Why supporters of Pakistan should be Zionists

“Pakistan not only means freedom and independence but the Muslim Ideology which has to be preserved, which has come to us as a precious gift and treasure and which, we hope others will share with us.”

So said Muhamed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. Along with others, Jinnah created a state designed specifically as a homeland - and protector - for South Asian Muslims. And Pakistan's constitution is very clear about its purpose:

Wherein the State shall exercise its powers and authority through the chosen representatives of the people;

Wherein the principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice, as enunciated by Islam, shall be fully observed;

Wherein the Muslims shall be enabled to order their lives in the individual and collective spheres in accordance with the teachings and requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Quran and Sunnah;

Wherein adequate provision shall be made for the minorities freely to profess and practise their religions and develop their cultures;

Now, I'm not going to examine the extent to which Pakistan has lived up to Jinnah's dream (although his views on women could do with a hearing - "It is a crime against humanity that our women are shut up within the four walls of the houses as prisoners. There is no sanction anywhere for the deplorable condition in which our women have to live") but rather to draw a parallel with another place. Here's the opening of its Declaration of Independence:

WE HEREBY DECLARE that, with effect from the moment of the termination of the Mandate being tonight, the eve of Sabbath, the 6th Iyar, 5708 (15th May, 1948), and until the establishment of the elected, regular authorities of the State in accordance with the Constitution which shall be adopted by the Elected Constituent Assembly not later than the 1st October 1948, the National Council shall act as a Provisional Council of State, and its executive organ ... shall be the Provisional Government of the Jewish State, to be called "Israel".

Just as Pakistan was created as a land of safety for Muslims and with laws inspired by Islam, Israel was created to provide a home - it was hoped a safe home - for the world's persecuted Jews. This is, in its simplest form, Zionism. As with any discussion of Pakistan, we have to set apart the purpose of its formation from the failings of Israel's subsequent leaders or government. Just as Pakistan struggles at time with Jinnah's ideals of democracy, pluralism and equality, Israel has often responded bluntly and aggressively to the legitimate grievances of Palestine's Muslim and Christian communities. But this doesn't alter the rightness of the two states' reason for existing - home, safety and a future for a persecuted minority.

So when I hear my Pakistani friends bemoan Israel with loud cries of righteous support for their Palestinian brothers and sisters, I think of why Pakistan exists and say to them - if you believe in Pakistan's right to exist as an Islamic state, you should also recognise Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state - you should be a Zionist. Criticise Israels actions, how it treats Palestinians, but recognise too that it exists for the same reason Pakistan exists.

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There are eleven million Jews in the world. I don't say that all of them will come here, but I expect several million, and with natural increase I can quite imagine a Jewish state of ten million.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/david_bengurion_182246

There are eleven million Jews in the world. I don't say that all of them will come here, but I expect several million, and with natural increase I can quite imagine a Jewish state of ten million.
Read more at http://izquotes.com/quote/76874

There are eleven million Jews in the world. I don't say that all of them will come here, but I expect several million, and with natural increase I can quite imagine a Jewish state of ten million
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/david_bengurion_182246

There are eleven million Jews in the world. I don't say that all of them will come here, but I expect several million, and with natural increase I can quite imagine a Jewish state of ten million.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/david_bengurion_182246

Local councils do not set foreign policy and the pension funds aren't our money to play politics with

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The government proposes to prevent local councillors from using council funds to conduct political campaigns. And to prevent those same councillors from conducting those political campaigns using the savings of public sector pension fund members.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has confirmed it is drawing up new guidelines to prevent local authorities from mounting their own “boycott and sanction” campaigns.

The directions, which will be issued early in the new year, are expected to make clear that councils’ procurement and investment policies must be consistent with UK government foreign policy.

What is being made very clear here is that local councils - as a part of the UK's government - do not set foreign policy. This isn't simply because we're a bunch of numpties who don't know enough (or have access to the necessary information) to make sensible judgments about foreign policy. It's because if every diddy little town council decided whether or not we liked Israel there's a real confusion out there as to what exactly is UK foreign policy.

So if campaign groups want to change UK foreign policy, the right way to do this is to persuade members of parliament to vote accordingly or, failing that, to get people who will vote according ly elected.

A similar intention - making sure that those councillors don't play politics with the retirement funds of the council's staff - is equally welcome. The duty of the council, as a trustee for those pension fund members, is to secure the best return for those members. If this can be done without investing in Israel, fags, booze or guns that's fine but it has to be clear that any decision isn't a political one determined by the prejudice of councillors not the interests of pension fund members.
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George Galloway blames Ukraine's problems on Israel

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Quite incredible really but true. George told callers to his programme on Iranian propaganda channel, Press TV, that 'the Zionists' had sent gunmen to the Maidan to help the 'revolution' so the Nazis could win and the remaining Ukrainian Jews would have to go to Palestine.

It's bad enough that one of Bradford's MPs isn't remotely interested in the problems of the City but when he spouts such nonsense you have to question Galloway's fitness to be an MP at all. Although he carefully skirts around outright anti-semitism (unlike some of his callers), the language and approach is still pretty appalling. But not quite as appalling as his use of lunatic conspiracy theories as a way to wind up naive supporters.

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In which David Ward MP does a little more digging in his antisemitic hole...

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Am I wrong or are am I right? At long last the #Zionists are losing the battle - how long can the #apartheid State of #Israel last?
— David Ward (@DavidWardMP) July 13, 2013

I know, we'll be told it's "anti-Israel" not anti-Jew. But wishing the end of Israel is an awful long way from disagreeing with the policies of its government.

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David Ward MP keeps on digging...

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Now it's the great Jewish conspiracy - the "machine":

"There is a huge operation out there, a machine almost, which is designed to protect the state of Israel from criticism. And that comes into play very, very quickly and focuses intensely on anyone who's seen to criticise the state of Israel. And so I end up looking at what happened to me, whether I should use this word, whether I should use that word – and that is winning, for them. Because what I want to talk about is the fundamental question of how can they do this, and how can they be allowed to do this."

Saying that atrocities in Gaza were down to "the Jews" was anti-semitic. Saying that the only reason he got into trouble was because of some vast machine compounds David Ward's 'mistake'. The truth is he got into trouble for saying that "the Jews" hadn't learned from The Holocaust.

I'm pretty sure David doesn't mean to be anti-semitic but the effect is the same - maybe he needs some awareness training?

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Quote of the day: "they of all people"

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From the always readable and sometimes brilliant Heresy Corner:

...however much you disagree with Israeli policy in the West Bank and elsewhere (and I'm not a big fan) there is no valid comparison between an over-the-top security operation intended to preserve the territorial integrity, indeed the very existence, of the state of Israel, and the systematic attempt by the Nazis to wipe an entire people from the face of the earth. None.

Do read the rest of the piece.

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In which David Ward MP gets a little anti-semitic.

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I've no time at all for David Ward MP - I recall when he accused the then Director of Regeneration in Bradford of racism in a letter he bunged through doors in Barkerend. And when he accused me of lying in a speech to Council - when I wasn't present to respond.

However, today - when we remember the evil of Hitler's genocide - David Ward launches what seems to be a crass, anti-semitic attack:

"Having visited Auschwitz twice - once with my family and once with local schools - I am saddened that the Jews, who suffered unbelievable levels of persecution during the Holocaust, could within a few years of liberation from the death camps be inflicting atrocities on Palestinians in the new State of Israel and continue to do so on a daily basis in the West Bank and Gaza."

The Jews, David? All the Jews?

And it seems, when asked to explain, David digs his hole deeper:

“It appears that the suffering by the Jews has not transformed their views on how others should be treated”.

Oh dear. The Jews, David? All the Jews?

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...of course anti-semitism isn't a problem in the UK

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Or maybe it is:

A spokesman for the Brighton Dome said the reason for the cancellation was to concentrate all security resources on one evening, in order that at least one show would go ahead smoothly with a "higher level of security". He said that the decision had been made following discussions about security with Sussex Police, and with awareness about the disruptions and protests at the Edinburgh shows.

It is appalling that people feel able to target a show simply because it is Jewish. And that the police are so supine and unready to defend free speech.

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