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By Stuart Littlewood
1 June 2010
Stuart Littlewood has emailed his UK Member of Parliament, Henry Bellingham, a newly appointed Foreign Office minister in the coalition government, asking him to spell out the actions the British government intends to take in response to Israel’s murder on the high seas of Gaza-bound international aid workers.
Dear Henry,
A few days ago I wrote to you in your new capacity as a Foreign Office minister, asking what steps Her Majesty's Government was taking to protect the Fee Gaza flotilla sailing to the besieged enclave on a humanitarian mission, in view of threats by Israel to seize the vessels and their crews and passengers.
And I wanted to know what constructive help, direct or indirect, the government is providing to break Israel’s illegal four-year blockade.
What many of us feared has actually happened. The mercy ships have been subjected to an unprovoked military assault, with tragic consequences and loss of innocent life. It may have surprised some but, frankly, it is only to be expected from a hooligan regime that never gets the clip round the ear it deserves from the international community for the obscene crimes regularly committed since its unwelcome birth 62 years ago.
"The Cast Lead blitzkrieg on the Gaza Strip, which left 1,400 dead including at least 350 children, thousands maimed and hundreds of thousands homeless, should have been a final warning that Israel's leaders are utterly devoid of humanity and need to be treated accordingly."
Israel's chief propagandist, Mark Regev, surpassed even himself when interviewed yesterday [31 May] on BBC TV.
"We did everything we could to avoid violence..."
"They [the aid workers] chose the path of confrontation…"
"This is elementary, we have to defend ourselves..."
"Our boarding party was attacked with live fire…”
"Violence was initiated by these activists..."
"The violence and the hostile fire was initiated by them... these people masquerade as human rights activists..."
"The last time they were in Gaza, this group, the first thing they did was to have their photographs taken with the Hamas leadership... "
"We didn't attack them, they attacked us..."
"We tried to do, in accordance with international law, a peaceful intervention as they were entering a blockaded area..."
He trotted out the same tired mantra about "those rockets that have rained down on Israeli civilians" with no mention of the hundreds of thousands of rockets and other explosives the Israelis have launched into Gaza and no explanation of why the West Bank, which fires no rockets, is still occupied). And his final lie? "There are no shortages in Gaza..."
Am I angry? You bet I'm angry – and disgusted with the endless posturing by cowardly politicians who are complicit in the plight of those who were once under British mandate and are now systematically half-starved, strafed, abused and forced to live in the most appalling, squalid conditions.
Until wholehearted conformity is demonstrated, Britain should play its part in ensuring Israel’s membership of the OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] is revoked and the plug is pulled on the EU Association Agreement. After what is, in many minds, the rogue state’s foulest crime, Israel must now work hard to earn a place in civilized international society.
Talking of Prosor, instead of packing his bags he used the platform of the [BBC Radio 4] “Today” programme to repeat the disinformation broadcast earlier by Regev, complaining that Israel’s storm-troopers, abseiling from helicopters under cover of darkness onto innocent vessels on the high seas, had to defend themselves from “extremists”. The right of self-defence, it seems, belongs only to Israel. Here is some of the desperate stuff he was spouting:
“The people on board the ships behaved appallingly…”
“People on board, they weren’t really looking for co-operation, they were
trying to confront…”
“Hit with metal pipes, fire bombs and knife blades…”
“We disengaged completely out of Gaza…”
“We are up against people who are not exactly human rights activists…”
“We are trying ,,, not to go overboard in our reaction…”
“We are trying … to create a situation where we are able to talk to more moderates and trying to isolate those extremists…”
“The other side, they really did everything in order to provoke and confront…”
“On the West Bank the economic figures are looking really, really good…”
Finally, could someone in government please explain why we have heard nothing of the Palestinian view in our mainstream media? The Palestinian ambassador in London is supposed to speak for all Palestinians including those trapped and brought to their knees in Gaza. Why hasn’t our state broadcaster, the BBC, provided a balanced picture by including the voice of those robbed of the humanitarian aid that was seized by Israel?
Just before sending this I was reading reports in [the Israeli newspaper] Haaretz from some of the aid workers who were released. They say others still detained were badly beaten by the Israelis and everyone had their cameras, phones, laptops and other personal items stolen.
Nice “allies”.
Henry, you are no longer the opposition, you are the real thing. And if you are the decent man I've always thought you to be, then you must please do what you can in your new role to inject some steel into the wobbly backbone of Westminster.
Kind regards,
Stuart Littlewood
1 June 2010
Stuart Littlewood has emailed his UK Member of Parliament, Henry Bellingham, a newly appointed Foreign Office minister in the coalition government, asking him to spell out the actions the British government intends to take in response to Israel’s murder on the high seas of Gaza-bound international aid workers.
Dear Henry,
A few days ago I wrote to you in your new capacity as a Foreign Office minister, asking what steps Her Majesty's Government was taking to protect the Fee Gaza flotilla sailing to the besieged enclave on a humanitarian mission, in view of threats by Israel to seize the vessels and their crews and passengers.
And I wanted to know what constructive help, direct or indirect, the government is providing to break Israel’s illegal four-year blockade.
What many of us feared has actually happened. The mercy ships have been subjected to an unprovoked military assault, with tragic consequences and loss of innocent life. It may have surprised some but, frankly, it is only to be expected from a hooligan regime that never gets the clip round the ear it deserves from the international community for the obscene crimes regularly committed since its unwelcome birth 62 years ago.
"The Cast Lead blitzkrieg on the Gaza Strip, which left 1,400 dead including at least 350 children, thousands maimed and hundreds of thousands homeless, should have been a final warning that Israel's leaders are utterly devoid of humanity and need to be treated accordingly."
Israel's chief propagandist, Mark Regev, surpassed even himself when interviewed yesterday [31 May] on BBC TV.
"We did everything we could to avoid violence..."
"They [the aid workers] chose the path of confrontation…"
"This is elementary, we have to defend ourselves..."
"Our boarding party was attacked with live fire…”
"Violence was initiated by these activists..."
"The violence and the hostile fire was initiated by them... these people masquerade as human rights activists..."
"The last time they were in Gaza, this group, the first thing they did was to have their photographs taken with the Hamas leadership... "
"We didn't attack them, they attacked us..."
"We tried to do, in accordance with international law, a peaceful intervention as they were entering a blockaded area..."
He trotted out the same tired mantra about "those rockets that have rained down on Israeli civilians" with no mention of the hundreds of thousands of rockets and other explosives the Israelis have launched into Gaza and no explanation of why the West Bank, which fires no rockets, is still occupied). And his final lie? "There are no shortages in Gaza..."
Am I angry? You bet I'm angry – and disgusted with the endless posturing by cowardly politicians who are complicit in the plight of those who were once under British mandate and are now systematically half-starved, strafed, abused and forced to live in the most appalling, squalid conditions.
Until wholehearted conformity is demonstrated, Britain should play its part in ensuring Israel’s membership of the OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] is revoked and the plug is pulled on the EU Association Agreement. After what is, in many minds, the rogue state’s foulest crime, Israel must now work hard to earn a place in civilized international society.
Talking of Prosor, instead of packing his bags he used the platform of the [BBC Radio 4] “Today” programme to repeat the disinformation broadcast earlier by Regev, complaining that Israel’s storm-troopers, abseiling from helicopters under cover of darkness onto innocent vessels on the high seas, had to defend themselves from “extremists”. The right of self-defence, it seems, belongs only to Israel. Here is some of the desperate stuff he was spouting:
“The people on board the ships behaved appallingly…”
“People on board, they weren’t really looking for co-operation, they were
trying to confront…”
“Hit with metal pipes, fire bombs and knife blades…”
“We disengaged completely out of Gaza…”
“We are up against people who are not exactly human rights activists…”
“We are trying ,,, not to go overboard in our reaction…”
“We are trying … to create a situation where we are able to talk to more moderates and trying to isolate those extremists…”
“The other side, they really did everything in order to provoke and confront…”
“On the West Bank the economic figures are looking really, really good…”
Finally, could someone in government please explain why we have heard nothing of the Palestinian view in our mainstream media? The Palestinian ambassador in London is supposed to speak for all Palestinians including those trapped and brought to their knees in Gaza. Why hasn’t our state broadcaster, the BBC, provided a balanced picture by including the voice of those robbed of the humanitarian aid that was seized by Israel?
Just before sending this I was reading reports in [the Israeli newspaper] Haaretz from some of the aid workers who were released. They say others still detained were badly beaten by the Israelis and everyone had their cameras, phones, laptops and other personal items stolen.
Nice “allies”.
Henry, you are no longer the opposition, you are the real thing. And if you are the decent man I've always thought you to be, then you must please do what you can in your new role to inject some steel into the wobbly backbone of Westminster.
Kind regards,
Stuart Littlewood
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