Anti-Jewish double standards

Have just seen on the news that people are marching in Berlin (I think) in support of the Yasidi and Christian minorities suffering dreadful persecution in Iraq. I'm so pleased to see that other groups are being afforded the worlds attention! perhaps, just perhaps some good can come out of this support.

Terri I agree some of what you say. My father, arriving in the UK from Palestine in 1947 needed to qualify in UK law. Because of the 'old boy' network it was hard for him to get a place in chambers but he was offered a place by Joseph Yahuda, a Jewish barrister. They became good & lifelong friends and I remember going to visit Joe and his wife, when I was a child, for lunch. At that time the differences were clearly seen as political. Not all Jews were, or are, Zionists. Nowadays to be outspoken against Zionism puts you into the Islamic extremist camp by people who have poor understanding of the history and politics of the region.

With 'friends' like Galloway the Palestinians struggle harder. His heart maybe in the right place but he needs to sort his thinking.

His heart in the right place?!!! You are having a laugh?! the man's a chancer, remember how he crawled to Sadam - dreadful man!

Not only Sadam.

He has a slot on Russia Today and to be honest I can find sometimes he is thoughtful but most of the time he just espouses pure bile and racism.

I am just talking about his support for the Palestinian people. As you see I question his thinking.

Again people blur all Arab nations. They are different as the European countries are and were when fighting each other in WW1 & WW2.

Israel seems to have exercised its right to defend itself quite effectively as they have a high tech defence system which was dealing with Hammas rockets quite effectively.
The trouble is they have consistently squandered their fund of tolerance and goodwill with the rest of the world by their appalling behaviour, exercising what they think it their right - to keep taking more and more land from the Palestinians. The world has sat and watched. No wonder Putin thought it was OK to take over Crimea.
In the process they have run the risk of provoking anti-semitism - but has it even crossed their minds? Do they think anti-semitism is a given and will never go away and therefore it does not matter how they conduct themselves? Do they really not stop to think their actions will not rebound on Jews around the world?
It is also, I would say, inevitable that their actions will radicalise many more young Muslims and make them hate Israel. What is not to get? Is this a good way to protect their country?
Maybe the international indulgence over the last 20 years is the reason why they seem to think they have a get out of jail free card. But in fact it has a lot more to do with political donations than a love affair with Israel.
A few years ago a teacher asked someone from the Israeli embassy to join to school on the annual holocaust memorial day. There I was, a governor sitting next to our MP who had years of pro-Palestinian campaigning under her belt. What does he do? - Gets up and gives a speech about how special and chosen his people are. Wished ground would swallow me up. A small example but a telling one - indicative of the collective mindset.
Important in these troubled times to support the UK Jewish community who must be feeling pretty nervous as a result of Israeli actions.
The OP sounds like a storm in an arty teacup but I can't really be bothered to read through such a long opinion article. If people want to boycott something do it yourself - stay away from all that fresh produce we buy from Israel.

Agus A number of Jewish Scots worried about Israel stirring up anti-Semitism and would support flying a Palestinian flag ? 'you're having a laugh'. They may be concerned at Israel's actions but would not support flying a flag of people who want to wipe out all Jews - that is what Hamas want, to kill all Jews then start on Christians. What do you think the U.S.is doing in Iraq , it's trying to help those poor Christians that are in terrible danger. I feel Terribull has written quite a bit of sense .However, Jews have always for millennia looked upon Israel as their ancestral home - hence the phrase at Passover 'next year in Israel'. In a collective fit of shame Europe did carve up what was known as Palestine and that has caused a lot of today's problems. Remember, before it was Israel it was a virtual desert. Now it's almost a green and pleasant land with an excellent government and infrastructure and has inherited a lot of the Jewish intelligentsia that was kicked out of Europe and Russia - those that were left at any rate. I'm getting so het up and angry with some of these views I'm coming off this thread for a while.

I am not at all sure that before Israel the area was a virtual desert. I recently visited the West Bank with a Palestinian Christian guide - not at all sympathetic to the Palestinian Authority. He pointed out areas that had obviously been farmed at one time but which now did not have enough water because Israeli law permits Israeli citizens to drill deeper and extract more water than Palestinian citizens.

I don't think it was a virtual desert either. it may not have been exporting veg to UK supermarkets but it must have been similar to Greece, Malta and Cyprus. There was also a myth that nobody was living there.
Interesting isn't it that Pakistani madrasa schools are always getting criticised for providing narrow education and producing ill-educated extremists.
Yet the very civilised state of Israel has many schools for boys in which they only get to study the Torah and are consequently only equipped to work as rabbis and religious scholars when they leave. No maths, no science, no computers, no nothing but religion. Recently their exemption from army call up has been removed but the Israeli army are apparently not that enthusiastic about taking in these ill educated recruits.

dorsetpentt Palestine was a well managed agricultural area before it was called Israel. My grandmother's family lost orange and olive groves to Zionists. No compensation. My family were Christian Palestinians. Their home on Mt Carmel was taken too.

There seem to be some who think that Palestine belonged solely to the Arabs before the state of Israel was declared. In fact the entires area was administered by Great Britain under a mandate from 1920 after the Turks (who held the land) were defeated after WW1.

To understand the current situation I'll post a link to a brief history of Palestine.

A VERY brief history of Palestine 1918 - 1948

The map is especially interesting.

Aka I hope that post was not fo my benefit. As my grandmother and her family predate 1920 and have a family tree going back many generations in Nazareth & Acre I already have a good understanding of the Palestinian history & culture.

It's for everybody Penn as you will already know your ancestors were under Turkish rule before 1920 and the subsequent British role until 1948.

It doesn't matter what people were known as "arabs", "palestinians" or whatever - or which imperial power ruled that part of the world. The fact remains that there were people there quietly getting on with farming their land until some of it was given to Zionists who then proceeded to take a lot more of it by force.
Do you remember the book and film of Exodus that came out in 1960 which, in retrospect, was a fine bit of Zionist propaganda of its time? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exodus_(1960_film)

Another bit of optional reading for a wet day: Daniel Deronda by George Elliot, which highlights the roots of Zionism in 19th century anti-semitism. The author would be very interested to see what has happened since her death I am sure.

This is all getting too complicated for me! All I can see is that we are where we are and arguing about who lived where under which Imperial power way back when isn't going to solve the problem in the here and now. As far as I can see, after centuries of persecution the Jewish people needed a home land where they could feel safe. they seem to regard that area of the Middle East to be where they originated from; Historically of course that is arguable, but now in the situation as it is, then a homeland for BOTH Israeli's and Palestinians to live alongside each other in peace is surely the only answer. I know about past injustices, and of course people feel very strongly about these, but nothing will alter the past, so surely the only way forward is to look forward and not backwards, build a future and not let the past (that no one can alter) blight what could be a peaceful prosperous future.

Glasgow would have done better to fly BOTH flags side to side, as a symbol of how Israelis and Palestinians need to find a way to live side by side.

I totally agree Elegran, that would have been an excellent idea, but I'm not sure that that that is the agenda for some!!!!

There are people in Glasgow of many different faiths and opinions (DiL can get kosher meat in Manchester and Glasgow, but not in Edinburgh). To single out one is to align Glasgow - and by extension all of Scotland - with one polarity of this very confused and complicated situation.

There remains the belief that Jews took land from Arabs at the end of WW2. This was not the case. There was a large jewsh community living there already, in reiative peace. The land was partitioned. Neither race had a 'homeland' there, in fact until 1918 it was ruled by Turkey, then under a mandate by Britain. Various treaties 'promised' both nations a home there, but nothing materialise until Isreal took matters into it's own hands and declared the State of Israel.
Granted Isreal has taken extra land since then. But the idea that after WW2 Jewish people were 'given' a homeland at the expense of Arabs or Palestinians is not correct historically.
Did anyone actually read my link?

Yes, and whatever happened after WW2 does not justify extremists chucking rockets into Israel practically non-stop since then because they hate Jews.

When not kept in check these nutters turn into groups like ISIS.

To families who have lived, worked & been a part of the culture and landscape of a place for generations it is still 'their' homeland no matter which invading army or distant ruling group lay claim. I agree that a peace needs to invove a two state solution. That needs all involved to recognize the pain on both sides. Israel's current government does not want to restore land taken in earlier conflict. Hamas will not negotiate until this is agreed. Stalemate. The current disproportionate response from Israel has not been a positive ontribution to peace.

Yes Bags you do well to remind us that Hamas and Isis are brothers in extreme Islam.

No, of course it doesn't, and you can totally understand that Israel is particularly hardened to attack having been under it for the past 66 odd years! I suspect I.S is already in Gaza whipping up trouble as it would seem that, from some reports, that Hamas is not only putting it's citizens in extreme danger, but actually killing people making it appear that their deaths were caused by Israeli action! I don't know if this is true, but it wouldn't surprise me, as surely no country on earth would deliberately expose it's people to such danger without first making provision for their protection. Hamas agenda is the destruction of Israel and everyone in that country and certainly not the defence and protection of it's own countrymen.

Constantly bringing up Islamic extremism in relation to Gaza is very unfair on the Palestinians - don't forget they are under occupation, illegal occupation.

As I said on another thread, what would this country have done if we'd ended up under occupation - just meekly accepted it? I don't think so.

What's going on in Syria and Iraq are nothing to do with Israel's consistent massacres of the Palestinians.

Lumping together all middle east scenarios is as stupid as connecting say the Serbian atrocities in Yugoslavia and the troubles in Northern Ireland ..... all European and all Christians.