STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT- The UK’s Queen Victoria (1819-1901) commissioned a fig leaf to cover Michelangelo’s statue of David because she was said to be shocked by the nudity. Ever since then the humble fig leaf has been used as a euphemism to censor, protect and control what society can see, read or think. No matter that the addition of Victoria’s fig leaves damaged some priceless works of art, we the commoners must be protected because of the views of the few in the ranks of the British Establishment.
You may well laugh at the absurdity of this false Victorian modesty but the act of fig leaf censorship is alive and kicking in Britain today. Unless our views are aligned perfectly with the ruling classes in Westminster we must be kept from seeing the full picture.
This nanny-state attitude is in evidence everywhere in Sir Keir Starmer’s Britain, especially when it comes to Zionism. Starmer has already proudly declared that he is a Zionist and gives unconditional support to Israel. Not only that, but he also expects us all to follow him blindly.
On Planet Starmer that is the only conclusion that politicians and right-wing journalists can draw as they drag out the discredited International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism which insists that any attempts to “draw comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” are “anti-Semitic”.
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My friends @TorahJews say it that is definitely not; they are anti-Zionist and anti-Israel, but I can only judge Israel by its actions, and to starve a whole population is a very Nazi thing to do. Desecrating graves, brutalising prisoners and killing babies all come from the Nazi playbook, as the thugs in the Israel Defence Forces know too well. Which explains the way that the IDF keeps Israel’s brutal military occupation going; and why members of the IDF are being investigated for war crimes using legislation used at Nuremberg Trials of those suspected (rightly) or war crimes after the Second World War.
This was certainly not lost on the late Gerald Kaufman MP whose seismic speech shook the foundations of the Palace of Westminster when he compared Israel to Nazi Germany.
“My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town,” explained Kaufman. “A German soldier shot her dead in her bed… My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza.”
Israel’s frequent wars in Gaza escalated in October 2023 since when, to our horror, a genocide has unfolded in real time on smart phone and TV screens. Supporters of Zionist Israel, such as the current UK government (more than 50 per cent of the Cabinet are under the ‘patronage’ of Labour Friends of Israel and other pro-Israel lobby groups) have started plastering fig leaves all over Israel to try and cover up its genocidal behaviour.
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The national broadcaster has gone to extreme lengths to manipulate the truth and remove any possible blame from Israel for the deaths of Palestinians who simply “die” rather than get killed, bombed or otherwise murdered by Israeli soldiers. Its use of euphemistic language insults the minimum of 48,500 Palestinians who’ve been killed in Gaza by Israeli bombs and missiles bought for the occupation regime by the US and Europe. The BBC has also just pulled a documentary about Gaza because of the pro-Israel lobby’s shrill voices and Establishment access.
The breakdown of the ceasefire is what the BBC calls a mere “bump in the road” whereas the Arab media are reporting that the Israeli occupation army has committed more than 900 violations of the ceasefire agreement since it came into effect on 19 January, resulting in the killing and wounding of hundreds of Palestinians across the Strip.
I have written to my local Member of Parliament to complain and, to be fair to him, he passes on my concerns to the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office who spit back the most weak and pathetic responses denying this. Incredibly, the FCDO can stampede over the bodies of dead babies in Gaza to defend those who killed them, plastering the modern equivalent of Victorian fig leaves over every act of dishonesty and aggression carried out by Israel.
The fig leaf which has already fallen away is the claim that Israel has the right to defend itself against the people living under its brutal occupation; it doesn’t. And, in any case, when did rape become an act of self-defence? Society is so sick in Israel that Meir Ben-Shitrit, the soldier at the centre of the infamous gang rape of Palestinians at the Sde Teiman detention centre, has become a media star rather than a social outcast.
We know about the brutality in Israeli prisons where men are raped to death by their jailers, and the war crime of starving an entire population. We know. I am sure that Starmer hopes that the video of him claiming that, “Israel has a right to defend herself” will have disappeared by the next General Election.
The truth is, Israel’s blocking of aid into Gaza will be “devastating” for the Palestinians, where seven newborn babies have already died this weekend from hypothermia, according to UNICEF. Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, is concerned that the potential ceasefire breakdown could see more deaths of Palestinian children.
“The aid restrictions announced yesterday will severely compromise lifesaving operations for civilians,” said Beigbeder. “It is imperative that the ceasefire – a critical lifeline for children – remains in place, and that aid is allowed to flow freely so we can continue to scale up the humanitarian response. The ceasefire must hold and more aid must be allowed in to prevent further suffering and loss of life.”
Oxfam has described Israel’s blocking of Gaza aid a “reckless act of collective punishment.” Collective punishment is “explicitly prohibited under international humanitarian law.”
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The Director General of the Gaza Government Media Office, Ismail Thawabta has pointed out that violations of the ceasefire agreement by Israel include blocking the entry of 260,000 tents and prefabricated houses for Palestinians whose homes have been destroyed by Israel along with a great deal of other civilian infrastructure. And, yes, that’s another potential series of war crimes.
The first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which lasted 42 days, ended officially over the weekend, without Israel agreeing to enter the second phase and end the war. The obstruction, as always, lies with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is forever moving the goalposts. Perhaps he is too concerned about the corruption charges that he is facing.
And to those who continue to call me a Hamas apologist, I say this. Israel’s disgraceful track record on the international stage has seen it blatantly ignore or violate more than 200 UN resolutions and sanctions. It’s worth remembering that George W Bush and Tony Blair claimed that their invasion of Iraq and subsequent war was entirely justified because Saddam Hussein had ignored or violated around a dozen UN sanctions.
In the words of James E. Jennings, President of Conscience International, Zionism is broken and almost finished. If true, it has come at a great cost to the Palestinians in Gaza, which is why it is now more important than ever to keep on talking about Palestine, not least the deliberate targeting of healthcare workers and doctors by the Zionist State of Israel, such as Hussam Abu Safiya.
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And we mustn’t forget about the occupied West Bank, which US lawmakers are being urged to call “Judea and Samaria” by order of the Israel lobby. War crimes are on open display there every day and have been for decades: every Israeli settlement in occupied Palestine is a war crime; and every illegal settler living there is a war crime; and every Palestinian arrested in the occupied West Bank and incarcerated in an Israeli prison is a war crime.
Israel treats international laws and conventions with contempt. It is aided and abetted in this normalised criminality by successive governments in the US and the UK, among others. Which is why we must treat pompous statements by the likes of Keir Starmer and his gang of Zionists in parliament with equal contempt.
There is no fig leaf big enough to disguise Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity; or its evil genocide. It’s guilty of committing all three, and proud of it. It’s time to condemn any pretentious claims to the contrary.
