Martin Bright

Israel, radical Islam and the EDL

I realise the title of this post looks like an open invitation to every lunatic conspiracy theorist on the web. But I’m afraid there’s no avoiding this. Israel and the radical right (be that of the Islamic variety or the most traditional sort) are taking up a lot of my thinking time at the moment.

Anyone who cares about these issues should look up two stories in this week’s Jewish Chronicle. The first contains the news that one of the most senior figures in the British Jewish community has said that diaspora Jews should be free to criticise Israel.

Mick Davis is not a particularly well known figure outside the Jewish community, but as the chair of the United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA) and the Jewish Leadership Council, what he has said comes close to an official breach of a Zionist taboo, which says that Jews who have chosen to live outside the state of Israel do not have the right to take issue with the tough decisions made by those on the front line.

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