Israel lobby in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
The term Israel lobby in the United Kingdom (also called the Zionist lobby) is a term used to describe the loose coalition of groups and individuals who attempt to influence British foreign policy in support of Israel and its policies. Many decisions made in the Houses of Parliament
are made as a direct result of lobbying by parliamentary colleagues, constituents or outside pressure groups, including “private companies known as lobbyists” employed by organizations. These organizations, which include both non-ethnic political groups as well as grassroots ethnic organizations of Christian, secular and Jewish-Britons, have seen increasing growth and influence in recent years. The term itself has been subject to debate in criticism, over its clarity and exact definition.
Such lobbying in the United Kingdom is far less formalised than in the United States
, where lobbying groups or associations may constitute formal entities
, and where lobbying in the US with regard to support for Israel is far greater
.
and futuristic interpretation of apocalyptic texts merged. In 1839 the evangelical Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury
called English Parliament to support creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. During the 1840s Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston supported a “Jewish entity” allied to the Ottoman Empire as a counterweight to Egypt.
British Journalist Geoffrey Wheatcroft
writes that perhaps the “first lobbyist on behalf of the land of Israel
” was Theodor Herzl
who, after publishing his book The Jewish State in 1896, and organizing the First Zionist Congress
in Basel, Switzerland in 1897, met in person British Cabinet ministers and other European officials. Russian
Zionist Chaim Weizmann
began the process of convincing Arthur James Balfour, a British Lord, that Palestine should be the Jewish national home and the “British Zionist movement began actively lobbying the British government.” The British Palestine Committee in Manchester also “lobbied for the mandate and Jewish rights in Palestine.”
Some groups like the influential Board of Deputies of British Jews
and Anglo-Jewish Association were the “institutional stronghold of the anti-Zionist camp” and formed a lobby committee to oppose the efforts of Weizmann and his allies. In 1917 Weizmann and a small group of Zionists "in a brilliant exercise of sustained persuasion, lobbying, and influence" persuaded the British government to create the “Balfour Declaration” which supported "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." (Weizmann later became the first President of the State of Israel.) However, leaders of Board of Deputies of British Jews and of the Anglo-Jewish Association (who at the time were non-Zionist) considered the Balfour Declaration a “veritable calamity” that would stamp "the Jews as strangers in their native lands."
According to the author Ritchie Ovendale, Britain, which held the British Mandate of Palestine ratified by the League of Nations
after World War I
, abandoned its Zionist sympathies "which had been secured by the Zionist lobby” because of fears of coming war with Nazi Germany
. In 1939 Britain limited Jewish immigration to Palestine, thereby becoming to Zionists "the principal enemy." In 1942 Zionists shifted their focus to influencing the United States through use of the "Zionist vote."
Various contemporary organizations in the United Kingdom
seek to influence British government policy towards Israel.
Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel
was the first such group formed. Its first objective is "to maximise support for the State of Israel within the Liberal Democrats
and Parliament."
Founded in 1957 Labour Friends of Israel
is a group within the Labour Party
which in 2003 described itself as a “lobby group working within the Labour Party to promote the State of Israel." On its present website it describes itself as seeking "to promote a strong bilateral relationship between Britain and Israel." It organizes visits British politicians to visit Israel and meet with Israeli politicians and advocates on Israel's behalf among Labour Party members. Both Labour Party Prime Ministers Tony Blair
(1997–2007) and Gordon Brown
(2007 - ) have been members of Labour Friends of Israel.
Conservative Friends of Israel
(CFI) is affiliated with the Conservative Party
and states on its website that it is “one of the fastest growing political lobby groups.” It lists its objectives as supporting Israel, promoting conservatism, fighting terrorism, combating antisemitism and peaceful co-existence in the Middle East
. Iain Dale and Brian Brivati in The Daily Telegraph
have described it as “a highly effective lobby group,” writing that its Director, Stuart Polak, has “done more than most to promote Israel’s case to the right of British politics.”
The "All-Party Britain-Israel Parliamentary Group" is an All-Party Group registered with the UK Parliament. Its stated purpose is "To create a better understanding of Israel, and to foster and promote links between Britain and Israel". The current chair is Lord Janner of Braunstone of the House of Lords
. Administrative support for the group is provided by the Office of Lord Janner.
(BICOM) seeks to present Israel’s case to journalists. The Guardian
has identified it as an influential Jewish lobby group.
The London
-based Jewish Chronicle reported that Brian Kerner, former chair of Joint Israel Appeal argued that there was "the need for a body able to orchestrate British Jew
ry’s political and public relations" after the year 2000 outbreak of the Second Intifada. The day after it began, fifty Jewish leaders met with the Israeli ambassador and “raised an initial £250,000 fund for pro-Israel lobbying and public relations.” BICOM was founded as a consequence. The article also noted that "a debate goes on in the community’s upper echelons over whether BICOM should remain a mainly-behind-the-scenes player focussing on media or a more upfront pro-Israel lobby similar to the American Aipac...”
According to a 2002 article in The Guardian
Bicom and the Board of Deputies of British Jews
had "adopted aggressive media strategies to defend Israel and attack its critics in Britain." In 2002 leaders of the British Jewish community called in two high level American strategists "to conduct research into the extent of hostility to Israel in Britain with a view to the British Jewish community launching a big public relations drive." In particular, focus groups were "said to have found particular hostility among professional and academic groups." The American paper The Forward
reported that in 2005 Steve J. Rosen
, then American Israel Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC) policy director, led an ambitious and “semisecret” effort to start similar pro-Israel lobbying organizations in the United Kingdom due to rising antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment. In early 2008, The Jewish Chronicle
reported that a new, yet unnamed London-based organisation would examine whether Israel received fair media coverage, but that it would not compete with BICOM.
In the fall of 2008 a senior Israeli government official shared his opinions on competition between BICOM, which he said wants to maintain its primary role in the UK, and the US-based Israel Project
. He stated that BICOM charged that the Israel Project doesn't understand how to work with British journalists and said "We don't want to get into this. We work with both organisations." The Israel Project denied there was competition and BICOM declined to comment saying "We don't respond to speculation."
continue the tradition of supporting Israel as part of the fulfillment of prophecy. Such groups often are criticized for their beliefs (per the Book of Ezekiel
and the Book of Zechariah
) that only those Jews who convert to Christianity will be spared a fiery death when Jesus returns. Christian Friends of Israel, UK explicitly rejects such a view in its “Foundation Principles.” Other such groups include the Church's Ministry Among Jewish People
(The Israel Trust of the Anglican Church), Bridges for Peace, Christian Zionists for Israel UK and International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, UK
.
In early 2002, Dennis Sewell wrote an article called "A Kosher Conspiracy?" in the New Statesman
magazine about the "Zionist lobby" in the United Kingdom, detailing lobbying in the United Kingdom by pro-Israel organizations. The article alleged that arms trader Shlomo Zabludowicz funded the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre
(BICOM). It repeated allegations that under Conrad Black
, then proprietor of the British publications Daily Telegraph and Spectator
, as well as the Israeli English-language newspaper the Jerusalem Post, "serious, critical reporting of Israel is no longer tolerated in the Telegraph Group," further alleging organised letter writing and "smear" campaigns against journalists who criticised Israel, including against The Times
's foreign correspondent Sam Kiley, The Independent
's columnist Deborah Orr and Middle East
ern correspondent Robert Fisk
and The Guardian
's Suzanne Goldenberg. It also described Black's wife Barbara Amiel
as an "enthusiastic Zionist columnist". According to Sewell: "That there is a Zionist lobby and that it is rich, potent, and effective goes largely unquestioned on the left." However, he concluded "The truth is that the 'Zionist lobby' does exist, but is a clueless bunch."
The cover of that issue of the magazine, entitled "A Kosher Conspiracy?: John Pilger and Dennis Sewell on Britain's pro-Israel lobby," and portraying a gold star of David
sitting on top of a Union Flag
, met with some protest. Mortimer Zuckerman
and Bernard Harrison cited it as an example of "new antisemitism." Emanuele Ottolenghi of St Antony's College, Oxford
, told a British all-parliamentary inquiry into antisemitism that it evoked "classical anti-Jewish stereotype
s" implying "wealth, "conspiracy" and "dishonesty" on the part of British Jews
. Peter Wilby, the editor of New Statesman, subsequently apologised for the cover.
Journalist Peter Oborne
, in response, stated in his pamphlet that accompanied his Dispatches documentary on the influence of the Israel Lobby on British foreign policy, has stated that - "The very mild piece involved little investigation and, if anything, played down the
influence of the groups."
and John Mearsheimer
's book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
in Haaretz
in 2007, Dave Rich, Deputy Director of Communications at the Jewish charity Community Security Trust
, contended: "The problem on this side of the Atlantic [i.e. in Europe] is that British politics lacks anything approaching the American system of openly declared political lobbies; a similar, AIPAC-style operation in Westminster would not just influence policy, it would also subvert fundamental democratic mechanisms." Rich concluded, "If there is a Jewish conspiracy, it is remarkably ineffective."
, a British private debating society, entertained the proposition: “This House believes the pro-Israeli lobby has successfully stifled Western debate about Israel’s action.” The debate, moderated by British journalist Tim Sebastian
, featured professor Norman Finkelstein
, journalist Alexander Cockburn
, former US Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk
and British journalist David Aaronovitch
. Aaronovitch held that the United Kingdom does not have the same kind of lobby as the United States and that in Europe there was “no such movement to sow confusion or stifle debate” as in the United States. Two-thirds of students voted that the pro-Israel lobby stifles debate.
documentary series Dispatches
aired the episode Inside Britain's Israel Lobby which investigated "...one of the most powerful and influential political lobbies in Britain, which is working in support of the interests of the State of Israel." Antony Lerman of The Guardian
wrote that while critics of the film alleged it presented grossly irresponsible accusations, he believed the filmmakers main conclusion was that they had "found a worrying lack of transparency." He charged that several critics themselves had made irresponsible accusations against the filmmakers. He described three vignettes included in the program regarding Israel lobbyists' efforts to influence politicians and the media and one lobbyist's questionable financial interests in an illegal Israeli settlement.
group Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK
(MPACUK), insists there is a "British Israel Lobby", stating that "there are over 100 members of the Friends of Israel
lobby in the Labour party alone. This gives them a very loud voice simply because they are active, each and everyone is giving and working for the good of their community.". A September 2006 article on its web site describing the three groups' web sites comments "We would like to apologise to all the Warmongers, Anti-Ceasefire camp, pro-war camp, anti-Islam
camp, anti-Muslim camp, Zionists, Israel Supporters, terrorists, extremists, fascists, right-wingers, Neo-Cons, Tony Blair
, well pretty much everyone who doesn't believe in the existence of the British Israel Lobby for exposing you for hijacking our countries [sic] foreign policy, which promotes hatred/war/injustice and who can forget the rejection of the ceasefire in Lebanon
... Even A Blind Person Knows The Existence of The Israel Lobby, but what is stopping you in seeing the existence of the Israel Lobby? Fear of being called An Anti-Semitic? If you think now is worse give it a few years when everything and anything on the issue of Israel & Zionism will be anti-Semitic."
In December 2007 a group of British academics and physicians including professor
Mona Baker
, psychiatrist
Derek Summerfield
and David Sedden of British Committee for Universities of Palestine
wrote a letter to the Committee on Standards in Public Life
, an advisory non-departmental public body
of the British government. In it they claimed that the "Israel Lobby" - and specifically Friends of Israel
- has "embedded itself in the British political establishment and at the very heart of government. Its stated purpose is to promote Israel’s interests in our Parliament and sway British policy." They charged that British Members of Parliament are "eating out of the Israeli government’s hand". According to Committee Chair Charles Ramsden, "It is very unlikely that this will come up on the agenda, because we deal with issues involving individuals."
On May 17, 2008 the Al Jazeera
news network produced a documentary "Balfour to Blair" described as "a special 30 minute film, [which] investigates the promises made, the motivations of British policy in the Middle East at the time and the impact of the Zionist lobby on this policy" covering the period from the early 20th century to the present day.
On the Palestine Chronicle web site, Australian investigative reporter Janine Roberts writes that the Zionist lobby or Israel lobby in Britain is in some way more successful than that in the United States. She asserts that after pop music mogul Michael Levy
began fundraising for the Labour Party it became far more pro-Israel. Labour Friends of Israel supporter Levy has been described by The Jerusalem Post
as "undoubtedly the notional leader of British Jewry". Levy ran Blair’s 1997 campaign for Prime Minister
and after winning Blair made Levy a member of the House of Lords
(which appointment later became part of the Cash for Honours political scandal) as well as “special envoy” to the Middle-East. Roberts writes that Brown is even more pro-Israel than Blair and has “ensured continued Jewish funding of ‘New Labour’” by appointing former Labour Friends of Israel director Jon Mendelsohn as his chief fundraiser for the next election. He also appointed former British ambassador to Israel, Simon McDonald, as his chief foreign policy adviser. He appointed several former chairs of Labour Friends of Israel to high positions: James Purnell
as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
with oversight over the British Broadcasting Corporation and all British media; Jim Murphy
as Minister of State for Europe
with responsibility for the BBC World Service
and the British Council
; and Kim Howells
as “Middle East Minister” (Minister of State
at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
with oversight of Middle East affairs). Roberts writes that Labour Friends of Israel has a growing membership in the House of Commons and is seen as a ladder to success for aspiring politicians.
Roberts writes that 80 percent of Conservative Members of Parliament also are Conservative Friends of Israel, including David Cameron
, Leader of the Conservative Party. She states that the Liberal Democrats Friends of Israel web site is more “stridently pro-Israel” than Labour, calling Israel’s occupation of the West Bank a “myth.” She also describes the Christian Friends of Israel (UK), which claims the British Empire
disappeared because it became an enemy of the Jewish people when it tried “to stop the Holocaust survivors from reaching the Promised Land.” She holds that these pro-Israel lobbyists have encouraged Britain’s support for the Iraq war and for cutting off British and European financial aid to the Gaza Strip as long as the “elected Hamas government” is in power.
British Member of Parliament George Galloway
, an outspoken critic of Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza
, disagrees that the Israel lobby is powerful. In a 2005 interview about the war on Iraq, he stated "Israel works for America. Israel works for imperialism. It’s not that there’s a Zionist lobby acting as the tail that wags the dog. The dog always wags the tail. And Israel’s purpose, in its creation, was to keep the Arabs divided and weak and to be an advance guard for imperialist interests in the region..." Nevertheless, in January 2009 when Galloway was not allowed to host his regular radio talk show after a scuffle at a rally protesting Israel's attack on Gaza
, his supporters allegedly "bombarded" the station with telephone calls and emails "accusing the station of bowing to pressure from 'the Israel lobby'," the station spokesman denied being aware of such complaints.
Anti-Zionist, accomplished writer and one of the most famous Jewish musicians in the world, Gilad Atzmon
is a strong critic of Israeli influence in the United Kingdom.
about the September 11 attacks in the United States, Richard Ingrams
noted “the reluctance throughout the media to contemplate the Israeli factor” and, commenting on Britain, cited “pressure from the Israeli lobby in this country that many, even normally outspoken journalists, are reluctant even to refer to such matters.” He also noted their reluctance to address issues he had mentioned in past columns related to Lord Levy and the Labour Party and to the “close business links with Israel” of press magnates Rupert Murdoch
and Conrad Black
. Later in September, Times journalist, Sam Kiley, resigned from the newspaper as he found his work was severely censored by senior executives due to the Zionist sympathies of Rupert Murdoch (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2001/sep/05/pressandpublishing)
In 2002 journalist John Pilger
’s film “Palestine is Still the Issue” was shown on ITV
. The Board of Deputies of British Jews
, Conservative Friends of Israel and the Israeli Embassy expressed “outrage” and, according to Pilger, demanded a "pro-Israel" film. Pilger states the BBC would not have “dared to incur the wrath of one of the most influential lobbies in this country” by showing the film, citing comments written by Tim Llewellyn, the BBC's longtime Middle East correspondent, that the BBC continues to “duck” the issue. Pilger stated this was "one example of pressure exerted on British journalists from Zionists and the Israeli embassy."
In a December 2007 column, after the 2007 Labour party donation scandal (“Donorgate”) broke, Assaf Uni of Haaretz
wrote that there was concern in the Jewish community about “conspiracy theories regarding a ‘Jewish plot’ in the United Kingdom, and the role of the pro-Israel lobby there.” In late 2007 it was revealed that David Abrahams, who was deputy chair of Labour Friends of Israel until 2002, had made secret and illegal donations through junior employees of 600,000 pounds sterling (approximately $1.2 million) to the Labour Party. Abrahams, “a Jewish millionaire,” admitted in The Jewish Chronicle
that he concealed his activity because "I didn't want Jewish money and the Labour Party being put together." The Telegraph
ran a photograph of Abrahams with Israeli former ambassador to Britain, Zvi Heifetz, and “insinuated that Israel was the source of the illegal campaign contributions.” According to an article in Haaretz, several in the media have maintained there was a connection between money donated by Zionist Jews and the pro-Israel policy of British prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Jon Benjamin, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, told The Forward
"Clearly there is a potential for it to turn against us."
Writing about the scandal, journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown
asked in The Independent
about the roles of the Labour and Conservative Friends of Israel groups, given that former Labour Friends leader David Abrahams involvement. She questioned the role in Labour victories of John Mendelsohn
, noting that Mendelsohn is “a passionate Zionist and infamous lobbyist, described by the Jewish Chronicle as ‘one of the best-connected power brokers’.” She stated her assumption that Labour Friends of Israel plays a part in shaping British foreign policies in the Middle East. She also questioned the donations and “back-room influence” of Labour Friends of India and Muslim Friends of Labour.
In 2009 British investigative journalist Peter Oborne
produced a documentary for Channel 4 Dispatches programme exposing the influence of the Israel Lobby within British politics and alongside James Jones
wrote a pamphlet investigating which groups make up the pro-Israel lobby, how they operate, and how they exert influence.
who in 2003 stated that former prime minister and party leader Tony Blair
was unduly influenced by a "cabal of Jewish advisers” in forming his Middle East
policy towards Iraq
, Syria
and Iran
. Dalyell initially named several influential British advisors of Jewish heritage, but later focused on Middle East envoy, Lord Levy and mostly Jewish advisors to US President
George W. Bush
. Eric Moonman
, president of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland
and a former Labour MP, said he was seeking advice on whether there was a case for referral of Dalyell to the Commons’ commission for racial equality.
The former Liberal Democrat
Member of Parliament
, Baron
ess Jenny Tonge
said in 2006: "The pro-Israeli lobby has got its grips on the western world
, its financial grips. I think they've probably got a grip on our party." An all-party group of Lords led by the former Archbishop of Canterbury
, George Carey
, said her "irresponsible and inappropriate" comments "evoked a classic anti-Jewish conspiracy theory
." Defending her comments, Tonge said that Walt and Mearsheimer's article "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" that appeared in the March 23, 2006 issue of The London Review of Books provided extensive research supporting her assertion that the "'Israel lobby' had a disproportionate voice in Anglo-American foreign policy."
Tonge was reprimanded by the Liberal Party leader Menzies Campbell
, who commented "I defend absolutely your right to express your views on the Middle East, including legitimate criticism of the state of Israel. But I do not believe that the remarks you used fell within that category." He added that the remarks had "clear anti-Semitic connotations" Jon Benjamin
, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews
, was quoted as saying: "If someone makes comments that are so at odds with what the party feels, and hopefully at odds with common decency, then one would hope that they are no longer made welcome in the party itself."
In 2006 Chris Davies
, a Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament
for the northwest of England wrote to a pro-Israel constituent that she "enjoyed wallowing in her own filth." In a later message to her he complained about Israel's "racist policies of apartheid" and stated “I shall tell them that I intend to speak out against this oppression at every opportunity, and I shall denounce the influence of the Jewish lobby that seems to have far too great a say over the political decision-making process in many countries.” As a consequence of the outcry raised by the attack on the constituent, Davies resigned soon after as leader of the Liberal Democrats group in the European Parliament
.
, a Palestinian research fellow at the University of Exeter
and vice-chair of CAABU
(the Council for Arab-British Understanding), wrote on The Guardian
's blog
that "the newest and least attractive import from America, following on behind Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Friends, is the pro-Israel lobby.” She states the Oxford Union withdrew its invitation to speak to American
Jewish scholar and Israel critic Norman Finkelstein
, asserting it was “apparently intimidated by threats from various pro-Israel groups.” Another speaker, Avi Shlaim
, a Professor of International Relations at St Antony's College, Oxford
, wrote that the rest of the original speakers withdrew “as a protest against the shabby treatment of our academic colleague and the violation of the principle of free speech at the Oxford Union.”
Karmi wrote later in 2007 that legal and other threats against Britons who sought to boycott Israeli universities and against the Royal Society of Medicine
for inviting psychiatrist
Dr. Derek Summerfield
to a conference. She stated the threats succeeded because "Britain is different, naively innocent in the face of US-style assaults on its scholars and institutions. No wonder that those who have been attacked give in so quickly, nervous of something they do not understand."
In October 2007 Amjad Barham, head of the Council of the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees, wrote that the "Israel lobby in the UK" was behind the University and College Union
(UCU)'s decision to cancel the UK speaking tour of some Palestinian academics. He asserted Palestinian academic unions could "detect the not-so-hidden hand of the lobby in this latest episode of stifling debate on issues pertaining to Israeli policies and the complicity of the Israeli academy in perpetuating them."
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
are made as a direct result of lobbying by parliamentary colleagues, constituents or outside pressure groups, including “private companies known as lobbyists” employed by organizations. These organizations, which include both non-ethnic political groups as well as grassroots ethnic organizations of Christian, secular and Jewish-Britons, have seen increasing growth and influence in recent years. The term itself has been subject to debate in criticism, over its clarity and exact definition.
Such lobbying in the United Kingdom is far less formalised than in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where lobbying groups or associations may constitute formal entities
Lobbying in the United States
Lobbying in the United States targets the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures. Lobbyists may also represent their clients' or organizations' interests in dealings with federal, state, or local executive branch agencies or the courts. Lobby...
, and where lobbying in the US with regard to support for Israel is far greater
Israel lobby in the United States
The Israel lobby is a term used to describe the diverse coalition of those who, as individuals and as groups, seek and have sought to influence the foreign policy of the United States in support of Zionism, Israel or the specific policies of its government...
.
History
What came to be known as “Christian Zionism” emerged in England in the early 19th century when Restoration of the Jews to the Holy LandRestoration of the Jews to the Holy Land
Christian Restorationism, the Restoration of the Jews to the Holy Land was a nineteenth-century, Christian movement with both political and religious motivations.-Secular motivations:...
and futuristic interpretation of apocalyptic texts merged. In 1839 the evangelical Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury KG , styled Lord Ashley from 1811 to 1851, was an English politician and philanthropist, one of the best-known of the Victorian era and one of the main proponents of Christian Zionism.-Youth:He was born in London and known informally as Lord Ashley...
called English Parliament to support creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. During the 1840s Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston supported a “Jewish entity” allied to the Ottoman Empire as a counterweight to Egypt.
British Journalist Geoffrey Wheatcroft
Geoffrey Wheatcroft
Geoffrey Albert Wheatcroft is a British journalist and writer.- Education :He was educated at University College School, London, and at New College Oxford, where he read Modern History.- Publishing and journalism :...
writes that perhaps the “first lobbyist on behalf of the land of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
” was Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl , born Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl was an Ashkenazi Jew Austro-Hungarian journalist and the father of modern political Zionism and in effect the State of Israel.-Early life:...
who, after publishing his book The Jewish State in 1896, and organizing the First Zionist Congress
First Zionist Congress
The First Zionist Congress was the inaugural congress of the Zionist Organization held in Basel , Switzerland, from August 29 to August 31, 1897. It was convened and chaired by Theodor Herzl, the founder of the modern Zionism movement...
in Basel, Switzerland in 1897, met in person British Cabinet ministers and other European officials. Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
Zionist Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....
began the process of convincing Arthur James Balfour, a British Lord, that Palestine should be the Jewish national home and the “British Zionist movement began actively lobbying the British government.” The British Palestine Committee in Manchester also “lobbied for the mandate and Jewish rights in Palestine.”
Some groups like the influential Board of Deputies of British Jews
Board of Deputies of British Jews
The Board of Deputies of British Jews is the main representative body of British Jews. Founded in 1760 as a joint committee of the Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jewish communities in London, it has since become a widely recognised forum for the views of the different sectors of the UK Jewish...
and Anglo-Jewish Association were the “institutional stronghold of the anti-Zionist camp” and formed a lobby committee to oppose the efforts of Weizmann and his allies. In 1917 Weizmann and a small group of Zionists "in a brilliant exercise of sustained persuasion, lobbying, and influence" persuaded the British government to create the “Balfour Declaration” which supported "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." (Weizmann later became the first President of the State of Israel.) However, leaders of Board of Deputies of British Jews and of the Anglo-Jewish Association (who at the time were non-Zionist) considered the Balfour Declaration a “veritable calamity” that would stamp "the Jews as strangers in their native lands."
According to the author Ritchie Ovendale, Britain, which held the British Mandate of Palestine ratified by the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, abandoned its Zionist sympathies "which had been secured by the Zionist lobby” because of fears of coming war with Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. In 1939 Britain limited Jewish immigration to Palestine, thereby becoming to Zionists "the principal enemy." In 1942 Zionists shifted their focus to influencing the United States through use of the "Zionist vote."
Active groups
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
seek to influence British government policy towards Israel.
Party political groups
The major British political parties include "Friends of Israel" groups which support the State of Israel.Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel
Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel
Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel is a group whose stated objective is to 'maximise support for the State of Israel within the British Liberal Democrat Party', and to 'promote policies which lead to peace and security for Israel within a Middle East peace settlement'.President of Liberal Democrat...
was the first such group formed. Its first objective is "to maximise support for the State of Israel within the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
and Parliament."
Founded in 1957 Labour Friends of Israel
Labour Friends of Israel
Labour Friends of Israel is a lobby group promoting support within the British Labour Party for a strong bilateral relationship between Britain and Israel. It also seeks to strengthen ties between the British and the Israeli Labour party...
is a group within the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
which in 2003 described itself as a “lobby group working within the Labour Party to promote the State of Israel." On its present website it describes itself as seeking "to promote a strong bilateral relationship between Britain and Israel." It organizes visits British politicians to visit Israel and meet with Israeli politicians and advocates on Israel's behalf among Labour Party members. Both Labour Party Prime Ministers Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
(1997–2007) and Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
(2007 - ) have been members of Labour Friends of Israel.
Conservative Friends of Israel
Conservative Friends of Israel
Conservative Friends of Israel, abbreviated to CFI, is a British parliamentary group affiliated to the Conservative Party and dedicated to strengthening business, cultural and political ties between the United Kingdom and Israel. CFI is an unincorporated associationIt was founded by the late...
(CFI) is affiliated with the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and states on its website that it is “one of the fastest growing political lobby groups.” It lists its objectives as supporting Israel, promoting conservatism, fighting terrorism, combating antisemitism and peaceful co-existence in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. Iain Dale and Brian Brivati in The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
have described it as “a highly effective lobby group,” writing that its Director, Stuart Polak, has “done more than most to promote Israel’s case to the right of British politics.”
Registered Parliamentary Groups
All-Party Groups are defined by the House of Commons as "relatively informal" groups whose members include "backbench Members of the House of Commons and Lords" and sometimes ministers and non-parliamentarians. They are classified as subject or country groups. Being cross-party, All-Party Groups are more talking-shops than lobbies trying to influence government policies. They are registered only "to control the extent to which groups use the House's facilities and status"The "All-Party Britain-Israel Parliamentary Group" is an All-Party Group registered with the UK Parliament. Its stated purpose is "To create a better understanding of Israel, and to foster and promote links between Britain and Israel". The current chair is Lord Janner of Braunstone of the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. Administrative support for the group is provided by the Office of Lord Janner.
BICOM
The Britain Israel Communications and Research CentreBritain Israel Communications and Research Centre
The Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre is a United Kingdom based organisation which claims to act to create a more supportive environment for Israel in the UK...
(BICOM) seeks to present Israel’s case to journalists. The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
has identified it as an influential Jewish lobby group.
The London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based Jewish Chronicle reported that Brian Kerner, former chair of Joint Israel Appeal argued that there was "the need for a body able to orchestrate British Jew
British Jews
British Jews are Jews who live in, or are citizens of, the United Kingdom. In the 2001 Census, 266,740 people listed their religion as Jewish. The UK is home to the second largest Jewish population in Europe, and has the fifth largest Jewish community worldwide...
ry’s political and public relations" after the year 2000 outbreak of the Second Intifada. The day after it began, fifty Jewish leaders met with the Israeli ambassador and “raised an initial £250,000 fund for pro-Israel lobbying and public relations.” BICOM was founded as a consequence. The article also noted that "a debate goes on in the community’s upper echelons over whether BICOM should remain a mainly-behind-the-scenes player focussing on media or a more upfront pro-Israel lobby similar to the American Aipac...”
According to a 2002 article in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
Bicom and the Board of Deputies of British Jews
Board of Deputies of British Jews
The Board of Deputies of British Jews is the main representative body of British Jews. Founded in 1760 as a joint committee of the Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jewish communities in London, it has since become a widely recognised forum for the views of the different sectors of the UK Jewish...
had "adopted aggressive media strategies to defend Israel and attack its critics in Britain." In 2002 leaders of the British Jewish community called in two high level American strategists "to conduct research into the extent of hostility to Israel in Britain with a view to the British Jewish community launching a big public relations drive." In particular, focus groups were "said to have found particular hostility among professional and academic groups." The American paper The Forward
The Forward
The Forward , commonly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is a Jewish-American newspaper published in New York City. The publication began in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily issued by dissidents from the Socialist Labor Party of Daniel DeLeon...
reported that in 2005 Steve J. Rosen
Steve J. Rosen
Steven J. Rosen served for 23 years as one of the top officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee . He is regarded as an influential and controversial figure in the "pro-Israel movement", often singled out in writings critical of AIPAC...
, then American Israel Public Affairs Committee
American Israel Public Affairs Committee
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the Congress and Executive Branch of the United States...
(AIPAC) policy director, led an ambitious and “semisecret” effort to start similar pro-Israel lobbying organizations in the United Kingdom due to rising antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment. In early 2008, The Jewish Chronicle
The Jewish Chronicle
The Jewish Chronicle is a London-based Jewish newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world.-Publication data and readership figures:...
reported that a new, yet unnamed London-based organisation would examine whether Israel received fair media coverage, but that it would not compete with BICOM.
In the fall of 2008 a senior Israeli government official shared his opinions on competition between BICOM, which he said wants to maintain its primary role in the UK, and the US-based Israel Project
Israel Project
The Israel Project is a US-based 501 non-profit, educational organization that gets facts about Israel and the Middle East to press, public officials and the public.” The Israel Project is not affiliated with any government. TIP has offices in the USA and Israel, and "works tirelessly to help...
. He stated that BICOM charged that the Israel Project doesn't understand how to work with British journalists and said "We don't want to get into this. We work with both organisations." The Israel Project denied there was competition and BICOM declined to comment saying "We don't respond to speculation."
Christian Zionist groups
Christian Zionist groups in BritainChristian Zionism in the United Kingdom
Christian Zionism in the United Kingdom is a Christian ideology that sees the return of the Jews to the Holy Land as a fulfilment of scriptural prophecy...
continue the tradition of supporting Israel as part of the fulfillment of prophecy. Such groups often are criticized for their beliefs (per the Book of Ezekiel
Book of Ezekiel
The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and preceding the Book of the Twelve....
and the Book of Zechariah
Book of Zechariah
The Book of Zechariah is the penultimate book of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew and Christian Bible, attributed to the prophet Zechariah.-Historical context:...
) that only those Jews who convert to Christianity will be spared a fiery death when Jesus returns. Christian Friends of Israel, UK explicitly rejects such a view in its “Foundation Principles.” Other such groups include the Church's Ministry Among Jewish People
Church's Ministry Among Jewish People
Church's Ministry Among Jewish People is an Anglican missionary society founded in 1809.-History:...
(The Israel Trust of the Anglican Church), Bridges for Peace, Christian Zionists for Israel UK and International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, UK
International Christian Embassy Jerusalem
The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem is a Christian Zionist organisation based in Jerusalem, Israel.-History:The International Christian Embassy was founded in 1980 by evangelical Christians to express their support for the State of Israel and the Jewish people...
.
New Statesman article
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
magazine about the "Zionist lobby" in the United Kingdom, detailing lobbying in the United Kingdom by pro-Israel organizations. The article alleged that arms trader Shlomo Zabludowicz funded the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre
Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre
The Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre is a United Kingdom based organisation which claims to act to create a more supportive environment for Israel in the UK...
(BICOM). It repeated allegations that under Conrad Black
Conrad Black
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, OC, KCSG, PC is a Canadian-born member of the British House of Lords, and a historian, columnist and publisher, who was for a time the third largest newspaper magnate in the world. Lord Black controlled Hollinger International, Inc...
, then proprietor of the British publications Daily Telegraph and Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
, as well as the Israeli English-language newspaper the Jerusalem Post, "serious, critical reporting of Israel is no longer tolerated in the Telegraph Group," further alleging organised letter writing and "smear" campaigns against journalists who criticised Israel, including against The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
's foreign correspondent Sam Kiley, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
's columnist Deborah Orr and Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
ern correspondent Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk is an English writer and journalist from Maidstone, Kent. As Middle East correspondent of The Independent, he has primarily been based in Beirut for more than 30 years. He has published a number of books and has reported on the United States's war in Afghanistan and the same country's...
and The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
's Suzanne Goldenberg. It also described Black's wife Barbara Amiel
Barbara Amiel
Barbara Joan Estelle Amiel, Baroness Black of Crossharbour is a British-Canadian journalist, writer, and socialite. She is also the wife of former media baron and convicted felon Conrad Black.-Early life:...
as an "enthusiastic Zionist columnist". According to Sewell: "That there is a Zionist lobby and that it is rich, potent, and effective goes largely unquestioned on the left." However, he concluded "The truth is that the 'Zionist lobby' does exist, but is a clueless bunch."
The cover of that issue of the magazine, entitled "A Kosher Conspiracy?: John Pilger and Dennis Sewell on Britain's pro-Israel lobby," and portraying a gold star of David
Star of David
The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles...
sitting on top of a Union Flag
Union Flag
The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas...
, met with some protest. Mortimer Zuckerman
Mortimer Zuckerman
Mortimer Benjamin "Mort" Zuckerman is a Canadian-born American business magnate with interests primarily in magazines, publishing, and real estate. He is now a naturalized citizen of the United States....
and Bernard Harrison cited it as an example of "new antisemitism." Emanuele Ottolenghi of St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.St Antony's is the most international of the seven all-graduate colleges of the University of Oxford, specialising in international relations, economics, politics, and history of particular parts of the...
, told a British all-parliamentary inquiry into antisemitism that it evoked "classical anti-Jewish stereotype
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
s" implying "wealth, "conspiracy" and "dishonesty" on the part of British Jews
British Jews
British Jews are Jews who live in, or are citizens of, the United Kingdom. In the 2001 Census, 266,740 people listed their religion as Jewish. The UK is home to the second largest Jewish population in Europe, and has the fifth largest Jewish community worldwide...
. Peter Wilby, the editor of New Statesman, subsequently apologised for the cover.
Journalist Peter Oborne
Peter Oborne
Peter Oborne is a British journalist and political commentator. He was educated at Sherborne School and The University of Cambridge. He is a Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph columnist, author of The Rise of Political Lying and The Triumph of the Political Class, and, with Frances Weaver, the...
, in response, stated in his pamphlet that accompanied his Dispatches documentary on the influence of the Israel Lobby on British foreign policy, has stated that - "The very mild piece involved little investigation and, if anything, played down the
influence of the groups."
David Rich opinion
Writing about the publication of Stephen WaltStephen Walt
Stephen Martin Walt is a professor of international affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Among his most prominent works are and . He coauthored The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy with John Mearsheimer.-Education and career:In 1983, he received a Ph.D. in...
and John Mearsheimer
John Mearsheimer
John J. Mearsheimer is an American professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. He is an international relations theorist. Known for his book on offensive realism, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, more recently Mearsheimer has attracted attention for co-authoring and publishing...
's book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy is the title of a book by John Mearsheimer, Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, and Stephen Walt, Professor of International Relations at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, published in late August 2007...
in Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
in 2007, Dave Rich, Deputy Director of Communications at the Jewish charity Community Security Trust
Community Security Trust
The Community Security Trust is a British charity established in 1994 to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish community in the UK. It follows a history of Jewish defence organisations in the United Kingdom dating back to the 1930s...
, contended: "The problem on this side of the Atlantic [i.e. in Europe] is that British politics lacks anything approaching the American system of openly declared political lobbies; a similar, AIPAC-style operation in Westminster would not just influence policy, it would also subvert fundamental democratic mechanisms." Rich concluded, "If there is a Jewish conspiracy, it is remarkably ineffective."
Oxford Union Debate
In May 2007 the Oxford UnionOxford Union
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, Britain, whose membership is drawn primarily but not exclusively from the University of Oxford...
, a British private debating society, entertained the proposition: “This House believes the pro-Israeli lobby has successfully stifled Western debate about Israel’s action.” The debate, moderated by British journalist Tim Sebastian
Tim Sebastian
Tim Sebastian is a television journalist. He is the moderator of the New Arab Debates and the Doha Debates, and was the first presenter of BBC's HARDtalk....
, featured professor Norman Finkelstein
Norman Finkelstein
Norman Gary Finkelstein is an American political scientist, activist and author. His primary fields of research are the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the politics of the Holocaust. He is a graduate of Binghamton University and received his Ph.D in Political Science from Princeton University...
, journalist Alexander Cockburn
Alexander Cockburn
Alexander Claud Cockburn is an American political journalist. Cockburn was brought up in Ireland but has lived and worked in the United States since 1972. Together with Jeffrey St. Clair, he edits the political newsletter CounterPunch...
, former US Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk
Martin Indyk
Martin Sean Indyk is Vice President and Director for Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Indyk served as United States ambassador to Israel and Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs during the Clinton Administration. He is known as the framer of the U.S...
and British journalist David Aaronovitch
David Aaronovitch
David Aaronovitch is a British author, broadcaster, and journalist. He is a regular columnist for The Times, and author of Paddling to Jerusalem: An Aquatic Tour of Our Small Country and Voodoo Histories: the role of Conspiracy Theory in Modern History...
. Aaronovitch held that the United Kingdom does not have the same kind of lobby as the United States and that in Europe there was “no such movement to sow confusion or stifle debate” as in the United States. Two-thirds of students voted that the pro-Israel lobby stifles debate.
Dispatches: Inside Britain's Israel Lobby
On November 16, 2009, the Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
documentary series Dispatches
Dispatches (TV series)
Dispatches is the British television current affairs documentary series on Channel 4, first transmitted in 1987. The programme covers issues about British society, politics, health, religion, international current affairs and the environment, usually featuring a mole in an organisation.-Awards:*...
aired the episode Inside Britain's Israel Lobby which investigated "...one of the most powerful and influential political lobbies in Britain, which is working in support of the interests of the State of Israel." Antony Lerman of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
wrote that while critics of the film alleged it presented grossly irresponsible accusations, he believed the filmmakers main conclusion was that they had "found a worrying lack of transparency." He charged that several critics themselves had made irresponsible accusations against the filmmakers. He described three vignettes included in the program regarding Israel lobbyists' efforts to influence politicians and the media and one lobbyist's questionable financial interests in an illegal Israeli settlement.
Opinions of critics
The British-based MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
group Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK
Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK
The Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK is a not-for-profit British Muslim organization set up to address a perceived under-representation of Muslims in British politics...
(MPACUK), insists there is a "British Israel Lobby", stating that "there are over 100 members of the Friends of Israel
Friends of Israel
The Friends of Israel Initiative is an international initiative to defend Israel as a crucial bulwark of Western values.Friends of Israel are groups within the three main British political parties that promote close ties between Israel and the United Kingdom...
lobby in the Labour party alone. This gives them a very loud voice simply because they are active, each and everyone is giving and working for the good of their community.". A September 2006 article on its web site describing the three groups' web sites comments "We would like to apologise to all the Warmongers, Anti-Ceasefire camp, pro-war camp, anti-Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
camp, anti-Muslim camp, Zionists, Israel Supporters, terrorists, extremists, fascists, right-wingers, Neo-Cons, Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, well pretty much everyone who doesn't believe in the existence of the British Israel Lobby for exposing you for hijacking our countries [sic] foreign policy, which promotes hatred/war/injustice and who can forget the rejection of the ceasefire in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
... Even A Blind Person Knows The Existence of The Israel Lobby, but what is stopping you in seeing the existence of the Israel Lobby? Fear of being called An Anti-Semitic? If you think now is worse give it a few years when everything and anything on the issue of Israel & Zionism will be anti-Semitic."
In December 2007 a group of British academics and physicians including professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
Mona Baker
Mona Baker
Mona Baker is an Egyptian professor of translation studies and Director of the Centre for Translation and International Studies at the University of Manchester in England.-Career:...
, psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
Derek Summerfield
Derek Summerfield
Derek Summerfield is an honorary senior lecturer at London's Institute of Psychiatry and a teaching associate at the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford....
and David Sedden of British Committee for Universities of Palestine
British Committee for Universities of Palestine
The British Committee for Universities of Palestine is an organisation of academics based in the United Kingdom set up in response to the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.BRICUP has two aims:...
wrote a letter to the Committee on Standards in Public Life
Committee on Standards in Public Life
The Committee on Standards in Public Life is an advisory non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom Government.The Committee on Standards in Public Life is constituted as a standing body with its members appointed for up to three years.-History:...
, an advisory non-departmental public body
Non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...
of the British government. In it they claimed that the "Israel Lobby" - and specifically Friends of Israel
Friends of Israel
The Friends of Israel Initiative is an international initiative to defend Israel as a crucial bulwark of Western values.Friends of Israel are groups within the three main British political parties that promote close ties between Israel and the United Kingdom...
- has "embedded itself in the British political establishment and at the very heart of government. Its stated purpose is to promote Israel’s interests in our Parliament and sway British policy." They charged that British Members of Parliament are "eating out of the Israeli government’s hand". According to Committee Chair Charles Ramsden, "It is very unlikely that this will come up on the agenda, because we deal with issues involving individuals."
On May 17, 2008 the Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...
news network produced a documentary "Balfour to Blair" described as "a special 30 minute film, [which] investigates the promises made, the motivations of British policy in the Middle East at the time and the impact of the Zionist lobby on this policy" covering the period from the early 20th century to the present day.
On the Palestine Chronicle web site, Australian investigative reporter Janine Roberts writes that the Zionist lobby or Israel lobby in Britain is in some way more successful than that in the United States. She asserts that after pop music mogul Michael Levy
Michael Levy, Baron Levy
Michael Abraham Levy, Baron Levy, is President of Community Service Volunteers Jewish Care, Jewish Free School and Jewish Lads' and Girls' Brigade ....
began fundraising for the Labour Party it became far more pro-Israel. Labour Friends of Israel supporter Levy has been described by The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
as "undoubtedly the notional leader of British Jewry". Levy ran Blair’s 1997 campaign for Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
and after winning Blair made Levy a member of the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
(which appointment later became part of the Cash for Honours political scandal) as well as “special envoy” to the Middle-East. Roberts writes that Brown is even more pro-Israel than Blair and has “ensured continued Jewish funding of ‘New Labour’” by appointing former Labour Friends of Israel director Jon Mendelsohn as his chief fundraiser for the next election. He also appointed former British ambassador to Israel, Simon McDonald, as his chief foreign policy adviser. He appointed several former chairs of Labour Friends of Israel to high positions: James Purnell
James Purnell
James Mark Dakin Purnell is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Stalybridge and Hyde from 2001 to 2010. He is currently the Head of the Open Left project at the left leaning think tank Demos...
as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport is a United Kingdom cabinet position with responsibility for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The role was created in 1992 by John Major as Secretary of State for National Heritage...
with oversight over the British Broadcasting Corporation and all British media; Jim Murphy
Jim Murphy
James Francis "Jim" Murphy is a British Labour Party politician and is the Member of Parliament for East Renfrewshire....
as Minister of State for Europe
Minister of State for Europe
The Minister for Europe is an executive position in the Government of the United Kingdom, in charge of affairs with the European Union. The office is usually a junior Minister of State position in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office...
with responsibility for the BBC World Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
and the British Council
British Council
The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
; and Kim Howells
Kim Howells
Kim Scott Howells is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Pontypridd from 1989 to 2010, and held a number of ministerial positions within the Government.-Biography:...
as “Middle East Minister” (Minister of State
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister...
at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
with oversight of Middle East affairs). Roberts writes that Labour Friends of Israel has a growing membership in the House of Commons and is seen as a ladder to success for aspiring politicians.
Roberts writes that 80 percent of Conservative Members of Parliament also are Conservative Friends of Israel, including David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
, Leader of the Conservative Party. She states that the Liberal Democrats Friends of Israel web site is more “stridently pro-Israel” than Labour, calling Israel’s occupation of the West Bank a “myth.” She also describes the Christian Friends of Israel (UK), which claims the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
disappeared because it became an enemy of the Jewish people when it tried “to stop the Holocaust survivors from reaching the Promised Land.” She holds that these pro-Israel lobbyists have encouraged Britain’s support for the Iraq war and for cutting off British and European financial aid to the Gaza Strip as long as the “elected Hamas government” is in power.
British Member of Parliament George Galloway
George Galloway
George Galloway is a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who was a Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2010. He was formerly an MP for the Labour Party, first for Glasgow Hillhead and later for Glasgow Kelvin, before his expulsion from the party in October 2003, the same year...
, an outspoken critic of Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza
Israeli-occupied territories
The Israeli-occupied territories are the territories which have been designated as occupied territory by the United Nations and other international organizations, governments and others to refer to the territory seized by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967 from Egypt, Jordan, and Syria...
, disagrees that the Israel lobby is powerful. In a 2005 interview about the war on Iraq, he stated "Israel works for America. Israel works for imperialism. It’s not that there’s a Zionist lobby acting as the tail that wags the dog. The dog always wags the tail. And Israel’s purpose, in its creation, was to keep the Arabs divided and weak and to be an advance guard for imperialist interests in the region..." Nevertheless, in January 2009 when Galloway was not allowed to host his regular radio talk show after a scuffle at a rally protesting Israel's attack on Gaza
2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict
The Gaza War, known as Operation Cast Lead in Israel and as the Gaza Massacre in the Arab world, was a three-week bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israel, and hundreds of rocket attacks on south of Israel which...
, his supporters allegedly "bombarded" the station with telephone calls and emails "accusing the station of bowing to pressure from 'the Israel lobby'," the station spokesman denied being aware of such complaints.
Anti-Zionist, accomplished writer and one of the most famous Jewish musicians in the world, Gilad Atzmon
Gilad Atzmon
Gilad Atzmon is an Israeli-born British jazz saxophonist, novelist, political activist and writer.Atzmon's album Exile was BBC jazz album of the year in 2003. Playing over 100 dates a year, he has been called "surely the hardest-gigging man in British jazz." His albums, of which he has recorded...
is a strong critic of Israeli influence in the United Kingdom.
Journalists
In a September 2001 column in the British ObserverThe Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
about the September 11 attacks in the United States, Richard Ingrams
Richard Ingrams
Richard Ingrams is an English journalist, a co-founder and second editor of the British satirical magazine Private Eye, and now editor of The Oldie magazine.-Career:...
noted “the reluctance throughout the media to contemplate the Israeli factor” and, commenting on Britain, cited “pressure from the Israeli lobby in this country that many, even normally outspoken journalists, are reluctant even to refer to such matters.” He also noted their reluctance to address issues he had mentioned in past columns related to Lord Levy and the Labour Party and to the “close business links with Israel” of press magnates Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
and Conrad Black
Conrad Black
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, OC, KCSG, PC is a Canadian-born member of the British House of Lords, and a historian, columnist and publisher, who was for a time the third largest newspaper magnate in the world. Lord Black controlled Hollinger International, Inc...
. Later in September, Times journalist, Sam Kiley, resigned from the newspaper as he found his work was severely censored by senior executives due to the Zionist sympathies of Rupert Murdoch (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2001/sep/05/pressandpublishing)
In 2002 journalist John Pilger
John Pilger
John Richard Pilger is an Australian journalist and documentary maker, based in London. He has twice won Britain's Journalist of the Year Award, and his documentaries have received academy awards in Britain and the US....
’s film “Palestine is Still the Issue” was shown on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. The Board of Deputies of British Jews
Board of Deputies of British Jews
The Board of Deputies of British Jews is the main representative body of British Jews. Founded in 1760 as a joint committee of the Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jewish communities in London, it has since become a widely recognised forum for the views of the different sectors of the UK Jewish...
, Conservative Friends of Israel and the Israeli Embassy expressed “outrage” and, according to Pilger, demanded a "pro-Israel" film. Pilger states the BBC would not have “dared to incur the wrath of one of the most influential lobbies in this country” by showing the film, citing comments written by Tim Llewellyn, the BBC's longtime Middle East correspondent, that the BBC continues to “duck” the issue. Pilger stated this was "one example of pressure exerted on British journalists from Zionists and the Israeli embassy."
In a December 2007 column, after the 2007 Labour party donation scandal (“Donorgate”) broke, Assaf Uni of Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
wrote that there was concern in the Jewish community about “conspiracy theories regarding a ‘Jewish plot’ in the United Kingdom, and the role of the pro-Israel lobby there.” In late 2007 it was revealed that David Abrahams, who was deputy chair of Labour Friends of Israel until 2002, had made secret and illegal donations through junior employees of 600,000 pounds sterling (approximately $1.2 million) to the Labour Party. Abrahams, “a Jewish millionaire,” admitted in The Jewish Chronicle
The Jewish Chronicle
The Jewish Chronicle is a London-based Jewish newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world.-Publication data and readership figures:...
that he concealed his activity because "I didn't want Jewish money and the Labour Party being put together." The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
ran a photograph of Abrahams with Israeli former ambassador to Britain, Zvi Heifetz, and “insinuated that Israel was the source of the illegal campaign contributions.” According to an article in Haaretz, several in the media have maintained there was a connection between money donated by Zionist Jews and the pro-Israel policy of British prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Jon Benjamin, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, told The Forward
The Forward
The Forward , commonly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is a Jewish-American newspaper published in New York City. The publication began in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily issued by dissidents from the Socialist Labor Party of Daniel DeLeon...
"Clearly there is a potential for it to turn against us."
Writing about the scandal, journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown MBE is a Ugandan-born British journalist and author, who describes herself as a "leftie liberal, anti-racist, feminist, Muslim, part-Pakistani...a very responsible person"...
asked in The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
about the roles of the Labour and Conservative Friends of Israel groups, given that former Labour Friends leader David Abrahams involvement. She questioned the role in Labour victories of John Mendelsohn
John Mendelsohn
John Ned Mendelsohn is an American writer, journalist, musician and graphic designer, best known for his rock criticism in Rolling Stone. Critic Barney Hoskyns has called him "one of the funniest writers in English"....
, noting that Mendelsohn is “a passionate Zionist and infamous lobbyist, described by the Jewish Chronicle as ‘one of the best-connected power brokers’.” She stated her assumption that Labour Friends of Israel plays a part in shaping British foreign policies in the Middle East. She also questioned the donations and “back-room influence” of Labour Friends of India and Muslim Friends of Labour.
In 2009 British investigative journalist Peter Oborne
Peter Oborne
Peter Oborne is a British journalist and political commentator. He was educated at Sherborne School and The University of Cambridge. He is a Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph columnist, author of The Rise of Political Lying and The Triumph of the Political Class, and, with Frances Weaver, the...
produced a documentary for Channel 4 Dispatches programme exposing the influence of the Israel Lobby within British politics and alongside James Jones
James Jones
-Arts and entertainment:*James Jones , novelist*James Earl Jones , actor-Sports:*James Jones , professional baseball player...
wrote a pamphlet investigating which groups make up the pro-Israel lobby, how they operate, and how they exert influence.
Politicians
David Rich, who denies there are UK “AIPAC-style” lobbies, criticised former Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Tam DalyellTam Dalyell
Sir Thomas Dalyell Loch, 11th Baronet , known as Tam Dalyell, is a British Labour Party politician, who was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons from 1962 to 2005, first for West Lothian and then for Linlithgow.-Early life:...
who in 2003 stated that former prime minister and party leader Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
was unduly influenced by a "cabal of Jewish advisers” in forming his Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
policy towards Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. Dalyell initially named several influential British advisors of Jewish heritage, but later focused on Middle East envoy, Lord Levy and mostly Jewish advisors to US President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. Eric Moonman
Eric Moonman
Eric Moonman was a British Labour politician. He was Member of Parliament for Billericay 1966-70 and Basildon 1974-9....
, president of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland
Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland
The Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, also known as the British Zionist Federation or simply the Zionist Federation , was established in 1899 to campaign for a permanent homeland for the Jewish people...
and a former Labour MP, said he was seeking advice on whether there was a case for referral of Dalyell to the Commons’ commission for racial equality.
The former Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, Baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
ess Jenny Tonge
Jenny Tonge
Jennifer Louise Tonge, Baroness Tonge is a politician in the United Kingdom. She was Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Richmond Park in London from 1997 to 2005.-Early life:...
said in 2006: "The pro-Israeli lobby has got its grips on the western world
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
, its financial grips. I think they've probably got a grip on our party." An all-party group of Lords led by the former Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, George Carey
George Carey
George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton PC, FKC is a former Archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1991 to 2002. He was the first modern holder of the office not to have attended Oxford or Cambridge University...
, said her "irresponsible and inappropriate" comments "evoked a classic anti-Jewish conspiracy theory
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
." Defending her comments, Tonge said that Walt and Mearsheimer's article "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" that appeared in the March 23, 2006 issue of The London Review of Books provided extensive research supporting her assertion that the "'Israel lobby' had a disproportionate voice in Anglo-American foreign policy."
Tonge was reprimanded by the Liberal Party leader Menzies Campbell
Menzies Campbell
Sir Walter Menzies "Ming" Campbell, CBE, QC, MP is a British Liberal Democrat politician and advocate, and a retired sprinter. He is the Member of Parliament for North East Fife, and was the Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2 March 2006 until 15 October 2007.Campbell held the British record...
, who commented "I defend absolutely your right to express your views on the Middle East, including legitimate criticism of the state of Israel. But I do not believe that the remarks you used fell within that category." He added that the remarks had "clear anti-Semitic connotations" Jon Benjamin
Jon Benjamin (Jewish leader)
Marc Jonathan Benjamin has been the Chief Executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews since 2005.Born in Croydon, South London, he attended Park Hill Junior School, Dulwich College and Manchester University where he read law...
, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews
Board of Deputies of British Jews
The Board of Deputies of British Jews is the main representative body of British Jews. Founded in 1760 as a joint committee of the Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jewish communities in London, it has since become a widely recognised forum for the views of the different sectors of the UK Jewish...
, was quoted as saying: "If someone makes comments that are so at odds with what the party feels, and hopefully at odds with common decency, then one would hope that they are no longer made welcome in the party itself."
In 2006 Chris Davies
Chris Davies
Christopher Graham Davies is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom. He is a former Member of Parliament, and since 1999 he has been a Member of the European Parliament.- Biography :...
, a Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
for the northwest of England wrote to a pro-Israel constituent that she "enjoyed wallowing in her own filth." In a later message to her he complained about Israel's "racist policies of apartheid" and stated “I shall tell them that I intend to speak out against this oppression at every opportunity, and I shall denounce the influence of the Jewish lobby that seems to have far too great a say over the political decision-making process in many countries.” As a consequence of the outcry raised by the attack on the constituent, Davies resigned soon after as leader of the Liberal Democrats group in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
.
Arabs and Muslims
In October 2007 all speakers withdrew in protest from another Oxford Union debate on the “One-state solution.” One of the speakers, Ghada KarmiGhada Karmi
Ghada Karmi is a Palestinian doctor of medicine, author and academic. She writes frequently on Palestinian issues in newspapers and magazines, including The Guardian, The Nation and Journal of Palestine Studies...
, a Palestinian research fellow at the University of Exeter
University of Exeter
The University of Exeter is a public university in South West England. It belongs to the 1994 Group, an association of 19 of the United Kingdom's smaller research-intensive universities....
and vice-chair of CAABU
CAABU
The Council for Arab-British Understanding, also known as the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding , is a London-based lobbying group dedicated to improving the political, economic and cultural relations between the United Kingdom and the Arab world. Founded in 1967, CAABU is...
(the Council for Arab-British Understanding), wrote on The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
's blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
that "the newest and least attractive import from America, following on behind Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Friends, is the pro-Israel lobby.” She states the Oxford Union withdrew its invitation to speak to American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Jewish scholar and Israel critic Norman Finkelstein
Norman Finkelstein
Norman Gary Finkelstein is an American political scientist, activist and author. His primary fields of research are the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the politics of the Holocaust. He is a graduate of Binghamton University and received his Ph.D in Political Science from Princeton University...
, asserting it was “apparently intimidated by threats from various pro-Israel groups.” Another speaker, Avi Shlaim
Avi Shlaim
Avi Shlaim FBA is a British/Israeli historian. He is a professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford and a fellow of the British Academy.Shlaim is especially well known as a historian of the Arab-Israeli conflict...
, a Professor of International Relations at St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.St Antony's is the most international of the seven all-graduate colleges of the University of Oxford, specialising in international relations, economics, politics, and history of particular parts of the...
, wrote that the rest of the original speakers withdrew “as a protest against the shabby treatment of our academic colleague and the violation of the principle of free speech at the Oxford Union.”
Karmi wrote later in 2007 that legal and other threats against Britons who sought to boycott Israeli universities and against the Royal Society of Medicine
Royal Society of Medicine
The Royal Society of Medicine is a British charitable organisation whose main purpose is as a provider of medical education, running over 350 meetings and conferences each year.- History and overview :...
for inviting psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
Dr. Derek Summerfield
Derek Summerfield
Derek Summerfield is an honorary senior lecturer at London's Institute of Psychiatry and a teaching associate at the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford....
to a conference. She stated the threats succeeded because "Britain is different, naively innocent in the face of US-style assaults on its scholars and institutions. No wonder that those who have been attacked give in so quickly, nervous of something they do not understand."
In October 2007 Amjad Barham, head of the Council of the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees, wrote that the "Israel lobby in the UK" was behind the University and College Union
University and College Union
The University and College Union is a British trade union formed by the merger in 2006 of the Association of University Teachers and the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education ....
(UCU)'s decision to cancel the UK speaking tour of some Palestinian academics. He asserted Palestinian academic unions could "detect the not-so-hidden hand of the lobby in this latest episode of stifling debate on issues pertaining to Israeli policies and the complicity of the Israeli academy in perpetuating them."
See also
- Israel–United Kingdom relationsIsrael–United Kingdom relationsIsrael-United Kingdom relations refers to diplomatic and commercial ties between the United Kingdom and Israel. The United Kingdom maintains an embassy in Tel Aviv and consulates in Eilat and Jerusalem...
- Israel lobby in the United StatesIsrael lobby in the United StatesThe Israel lobby is a term used to describe the diverse coalition of those who, as individuals and as groups, seek and have sought to influence the foreign policy of the United States in support of Zionism, Israel or the specific policies of its government...
- Lobbying in the United KingdomLobbying in the United KingdomLobbying in the United Kingdom plays a significant role in the formation of legislation and a wide variety of commercial organisations, lobby groups 'lobby' for particular policies and decisions by Parliament and other political organs at state and local levels. It is also possible, but less...
- Britain Israel Communications and Research CentreBritain Israel Communications and Research CentreThe Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre is a United Kingdom based organisation which claims to act to create a more supportive environment for Israel in the UK...
- Labour Friends of IsraelLabour Friends of IsraelLabour Friends of Israel is a lobby group promoting support within the British Labour Party for a strong bilateral relationship between Britain and Israel. It also seeks to strengthen ties between the British and the Israeli Labour party...
- Conservative Friends of IsraelConservative Friends of IsraelConservative Friends of Israel, abbreviated to CFI, is a British parliamentary group affiliated to the Conservative Party and dedicated to strengthening business, cultural and political ties between the United Kingdom and Israel. CFI is an unincorporated associationIt was founded by the late...
- Liberal Democrat Friends of IsraelLiberal Democrat Friends of IsraelLiberal Democrat Friends of Israel is a group whose stated objective is to 'maximise support for the State of Israel within the British Liberal Democrat Party', and to 'promote policies which lead to peace and security for Israel within a Middle East peace settlement'.President of Liberal Democrat...
- British–Zionist conflict