How Britain's political and military leadership pays scant regard to justice and the law, especially when it comes to the Palestine-Israel conflict.

In the crossbenches stands Lord Boyce, former British Chief of Defence Staff. In a “defence” debate with his peers on 22 November 2007, he spoke of blood on the deck of the Ministry of Defence; fellow warriors have been pleading for the weapons and leaving almost empty handed. Brown without an 'e' is in the frame. The register of peers' interests show that this ex-sailor [Lord Boyce] holds a remunerated directorship in VT Group plc. This little business sells warships to Her Majesty’s Government, among other boys' toys. Hansard records no declaration of his possible interest in the hardware central to the debate..

General Lord Guthrie GCB, LVO, OBE, DL and Chief of Defence Staff before Lord Boyce, filled the chamber with his honeyed voice. This soldier had a similar view to the sailor. Now, the register shows him to be a part of Colt Defense LLC. Assault rifles is its stock in trade and security services another string to a deadly bow. Few “defence” companies can neglect an “industry” which is third only to oil and killing in Iraq, and which is yet another facet of the supreme international war crime from which all other crimes flow. Hansard – no pecuniary interest in this debate was declared by him.

Second Response to BMJ re Boycott of Israeli Medical Association

 

I perceive there is a good deal of denial within many responses. Where there is not denial, there is ignorance about the grotesque injustice and suffering that has been meted out to these people over 59 years.

Moshe Machover sent me this statement yesterday.

http://right2edu.birzeit.edu/news/article476

5 Birzeit students arrested as Israeli army targets student population Right to Education Campaign, Birzeit University, 1 August 2007

In the last 3 days, 5 Birzeit University students were arrested by the Israeli army, most of whom belong to the university's Student Council. The detainees are; Eyad Omar Abu Arqub, Fadi Yunis Jaber, Jalal Hosni Abu Khaled, Omar Abdelrazaq Abdellatif (all members of the Student Council) and Ahmad Mahmoud Hassan.

Correspondence in Rapid Response BMJ re Boycott of Israeli Medical Association

 

I recently returned with six colleagues from my seventh visit to the remnants of Palestine. The suffering of the 3.7 million people has never been greater. The siege that was put in place by 29 nations, including Israel, in March 2007 was another cruel and unlawful turn of the screw.

And yet the picture painted by Dr Blachar in the letter quoted by Owen Dyer is one of IMA interest and benevolence. Unlike the British press, the Israeli fourth estate is searching and pulls no punches. It is fair to assume that the members of the IMA are well informed about their neighbours in the Occupied Palestine Territories - OPT.

The fires in California are dying now. Eighteen hundred homes and businesses have been consumed. Many thousands are homeless and a quarter of a million people were evacuated. About one dozen people lost their lives but charred bodies of Mexican immigrants who were camping in the canyons are being discovered. The Federal Emergency Management Agency - FEMA had its faked press conference with employees posing as reporters and then ate humble American pie. But then Hollywood was down the road. A resident star, John Travolta, 'admits he was forced to fly his helicopter over the region to ensure his family were safe'. Arnie, the Governor, visited the fires several times; most recently he raised the likelihood of arson. He promised the forces for right would hunt the perpetrators down. 'Smoking them out' might have seemed tasteless.

This element of nature has been known in these hills for millennia during drought and the sprawl of building into them has risked this disaster. There was a time perhaps when fire was used by the white colonist to drive the North American Indians from their tepees and their caves. Gunfire, fire, smallpox and other imported disease erased twenty million natives from the land of open sky and prairie. The colonist's descendants and the many late comers would not have dwelt on the justice of these acts of God but instead heat gave rise to hyperbole.

Firefighters described scenes of devastation, with one pilot battling fires in San Diego telling his commanders: "It looks like an atom bomb is going off over there," the Los Angeles Times reported. Another firefighter, Mitch Mendler, said the area "was like Armageddon. It looked like the end of the world." Good that a US citizen has had a glimpse of both.

David Halpin considers the hypocrisy of British Minister for International Development Shahid Malik, who whinges at being held by the US authorities while on a trip to the USA but condones state-sponsored Anglo-American aggression.

This minister in the Department of International Development was delayed for 40 minutes at Washington's Dulles airport by security officials whilst his luggage was searched for traces of explosive. He had been at meetings to do with tackling “terrorism”.

The same happened at New York's JFK airport last November when two other Muslims were held aside. On that visit he had been a keynote speaker at an event organized by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), alongside the FBI and Muslim organizations, to talk about tackling extremism and defeating terrorism. The Register of Member's Interests records that his flights and accommodation were paid for by the Pakistan Cultural Association (?where), the FBI and Homeland Security.