If you thought it was just Britain, you’d be wrong. The increasing legitimacy being accorded to use of the apartheid analogy in relation to Israel is now widespread right across western Europe. The latest evidence of this comes from Germany. The Jerusalem Post is reporting today that German President Horst Köhler has awarded the ‘Federal Cross of Merit, first class’ to a lawyer who regularly uses the apartheid analogy and condemns Israeli leaders as “war criminals”.

The lawyer, Felicia Langer, is Israeli but lives in the German city of Tübingen. The Jerusalem Post quoted an outraged Dieter Graumann, Vice President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, who described Langer as a “militant and fanatical hater of Israel.”

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Is the Guardian out of control? On its Comment is Free website, it now has two anti-Israeli commentaries. The latest one is by Oded Na’aman — a member of the far-Left Breaking the Silence group which is involved in a long running campaign against the Israeli military. The other anti-Israeli commentary currently up on the website (see previous post) is on an Israeli “apartheid” theme. Two in one day? This is looking more and more like an unhealthy obsession.

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You really do have to take your hat off to the Guardian. Its (clearly coordinated) campaign of agitprop against Israel knows no limits. The sheer relentlessness of the assault has no parallel for any state in the world. It is a non-stop stream of commentaries designed to demean and degrade, with the very occasional (and token) counterpoint thrown in to conjur the illusion of balance. Today, without using the term itself, we are back on the apartheid theme.

An (anonymous!) Jewish Israeli married to a an Israeli Arab has been given a slot to denounce a “new government policy” announced by Israeli Housing Minister Ariel Atias. Atias, calmly described by the author as “a racist religious fanatic”, recently expressed his view that town-planning policy in the Galilee should address the demographic balance in the region where the Arab presence is expanding.

According to the author:

“He pointed to last year’s Jewish-Arab riots in Akko as proof that we just don’t get along. Atias said he intends to formulate and implement housing policies that create and perpetuate separate townships for Jews and Arabs.”

Now, there are elements of truth in that statement — Atias did refer to Akko and he does argue for more Jewish neighbourhoods — but the overall message conveyed is deeply misleading.

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In its sheer contempt for basic journalistic standards, today’s BBC reporting on Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza is breathtaking. The report, available in text and video versions on the BBC website, is entitled: “Israel soldiers speak out on Gaza”. It is being given top billing both on the website and on BBC television. It purports to show how the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) committed numerous acts of bestiality during the Gaza campaign. The television version opens with the following, sombre words:

“The Israel army had a ready answer to claims of war crimes in Gaza: this was Palestinian propaganda. Now, these accusations are being made by Israeli soldiers.”

Really? Could you just clarify the basis for that claim? Dim the lights. Speak in hushed tones. “More than 25 Israeli soldiers have come forward to claim war crimes were committed…”

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In a deeply worrying development today, it is being reported out of Israel and by international news agencies that Britain has imposed a partial arms embargo on Israel following the recent Cast Lead offensive in the Gaza strip.

Haaretz is reporting that the UK has revoked export licences for spare parts for Sa’ar 4.5 naval gunships of the type that were used in Cast Lead. The British government reviewed 182 licences in all and decided to revoke five of them.

According to Haaretz:

“Britain’s Foreign Office informed Israel’s embassy in London of the sanctions a few days ago. The embassy, in a classified telegram to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, said the decision stemmed from heavy pressure by both members of Parliament and human rights organizations.”

This is a matter of deep concern, not so much for the embargo itself — only a small number of licences were revoked and Israel will find ways round it — but for the precedent it sets and the reasoning behind it.

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