The only "argument" that has been put forward to counter what these retired diplomats are saying is that they are a bunch of Arab-loving, Jew-hating poofs.

What makes this outrageous, slanderous and desperate ad hominem all the more pathetic is the fact that at least 30 of these diplomats served in non-Arab countries.

While Tony Blair is still at Number 10, their view might not hold sway (at least not de facto) in the political arena, but they surely have much support in the country at large. In the recent ADL survey of anti-Semitic attitudes in Europe that I referred to in another post, anti-Semitism has risen in the UK in the last couple of years from 18% of the population to 24%. During the same period Israel's "favorability" has decreased in the UK from 29% to 24%. In Europe generally, 24% of respondents continue to sympathise more with the Palestinians than with Israelis, with 15% sympathising more with Israelis.

And, of course, criticism of Israel per se is not anti-Semitic. On the other hand, the outrageous lies, the quite blatant double standards, the venomous and annihilatory statements that seem to issue forth with such regularity whenever Israel is brought up in conversation are most definitely a sign that the beast of anti-Semitism is back in Europe.

Unfortunately, there is no cure. As Elie Wiesel said today at the international conference on anti-Semitism in Berlin:
"If Auschwitz didn't kill anti-Semitism, what can?"

You need to check out Melanie Phillips's devastatingly incisive comments ("The moral bankruptcy of the British establishment") about this very same issue, Oliver:

http://www.melaniephillips.com/diary/

As Ian Mikardo pointed out, the twin axioms of HM Diplomatic Service are "homosexuality and antisemitism".

Obviously he didn't forsee just how popular and fashionable those things would soon become.

I'm not saying this to be provocative, but there isn't a single point made by Melanie Phillips that I find in the slightest bit persuasive. It's her usual combination of straw men, rhetorical questions, and personal insults.

Of course, if you'd like to bring up something specific from that article, I'll happily respond.

30 of them may have been Ambassadors in non-Arab countries but they all worked for the Foreign Office.
Guilt by association at the very least.

"Guilt by association at the very least."

A characteristically spurious accusation. This, among the other ad hominems and fallacies that have so far been proffered as "arguments", merely serve to expose the vacuousness and moral bankruptcy of the arguments coming from the pro-Bush/Blair camp.

Again, the tactic of those who aim to discredit the 52 signatories has been to dismiss them all as career 'Arabists' (not to mention anti-Semite homosexuals). To put it simply, this is a lie.

"As Ian Mikardo pointed out, the twin axioms of HM Diplomatic Service are "homosexuality and antisemitism".

Obviously he didn't forsee just how popular and fashionable those things would soon become."

Why put them in the same boat? One is morally neutral, the other is morally wicked.

"there isn't a single point made by Melanie Phillips that I find in the slightest bit persuasive."

Do you really imagine that I expected you would?

My suggestion was simply a device I employed to direct people of good faith (the people who are, inter alia, truly shocked that one out of every four inhabitants of the UK is a Jew-hater) to an article that exposes the malignant poisons of anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism, appeasement, and defeatism, which are today coursing through the veins of the British body politic.

An interesting letter from today's Daily Telegraph:

Re: Shame on my colleagues
Date: 29 April 2004

Sir - My former Foreign Office colleagues who signed their open letter on Iraq (News, Apr 24) should be ashamed of themselves. After they have enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame, perhaps they will have time to reflect that retirement does not release them from that cardinal virtue of diplomacy: discretion.

It does them little credit to have jumped on to the passing bandwagon of anti-Americanism, the more so since they may have given the mistaken impression that they speak for the Foreign Office as a whole.

From:
Christopher Crabbie, British Ambassador Algeria (1994-95), Romania (1996-99), OECD Paris (1999-2004), St Jeannet, France

That "one out of every four inhabitants of the UK is a Jew-hater", if true (and one ADL poll does not a truth make), is indeed shocking. It is also a red herring in this context.

And still, despite the smoke-blowing, it's clear that not a single argument has been presented to counter what the 52 signatories actually said. Instead, the familiar litany of non sequiturs and evasions.

"And still, despite the smoke-blowing, it's clear that not a single argument has been presented to counter what the 52 signatories actually said. Instead, the familiar litany of non sequiturs and evasions."

In the same way the Foreign Office managed to turn its collective back on the Holocaust, you don't see the arguments, or the quite obvious Jew-hatred, because you choose not to see them.

I suggest you unbundle yourself of your prejudices for just a few minutes and try Ms. Phillips's article one more time.

Oliver - when I read that they castigated Blair for abandoning "the principles which for nearly four decades have guided international efforts to restore peace in the Holy Land" I was bemused. Is it your position that we should continue with a failed policy? If you're willing to give the international communtiy more time to pursue this 'policy' why won't you give Bush and Blair 40 months to try something else? It's not like the past 40 years of talk have produced anything of value...

Who exactly is 'anti-semitic' and 'jew-hating'??? Spell it out without confusion!
How do you know this 'factoid'? Oh the ADL 'surveyed' some 'people' haha! Oh please! You know as well as I do that soon as the majority of GOYIM, (you know us 'no better than animals' non-jews) start to wake-up to what is happening the charge of 'its all because you hate jews' comes out. It is a knee-jerk reaction of jews because quite honestly you know that once 'people' find out what youve been up to, they'll get angry. You know what happens next!
You do not seem to to realise that your lies and deceit only make people more angry, not less! Just come clean for crying out loud. I have the utmost respect for jews who tell it like it is. Jews like Vanunu!!
My main point is to keep trying to beat people down just because they disagree with israel and the jews will not work in the long run. You know that, just read the old testament!!!

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