Britain accused of Anti-Semitism

Britain accused of Anti-Semitism

Echoes of 1930s as May government ‘betrays Israel’

By Charles Gardner, Special to ASSIST News Service (Writer’s Opinion)

DONCASTER, UK (ANS – January 31, 2016) -- On the very eve of “celebrating” the centenary year of the 1917 Balfour Declaration, the British Government has, in my opinion, once more betrayed the Jewish people.

The pledge made through Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour 100 years ago next November, promising to do all in its power to re-settle God’s chosen people in their ancient land, was repeatedly broken in the 1920s and 30s as Britain kowtowed to Arab opposition.

Nevertheless, they had set the ball rolling towards the re-birth of the Jewish state thanks to a combination of Zionist lobbying and evangelical Christian influence -- and for that we can be justly proud.

Tragically, however, giants of the faith such as William Wilberforce, Charles Spurgeon and Bishop J C Ryle don’t appear to be around these days.

But thank God for Melanie Phillips1, one of Britain’s most highly-respected journalists, who has vented her fury over the country’s latest betrayal of the Jews in an open letter2 to Prime Minister Theresa May.

Voting for a United Nations resolution3 effectively delegitimizing much of Israel amounted to a “declaration of diplomatic war” and an act of anti-Semitism against the Jewish state, she wrote.

In a much-needed history lesson for the Prime Minister, Phillips points out the irony of backing such a resolution at a time when Mrs. May has been hailed as an ardent friend of Israel.

Britain had signed up to propositions that repudiate law, justice and truth, she said. And it had put itself “firmly behind the attempt to exterminate the State of Israel under the cowardly cover of vacuous pieties about supporting two democratic states and opposing terrorism and incitement. It has done this by endorsing the inflammatory falsehoods and legal and historic fictions deployed by those whose purpose is to destroy the State of Israel.

“By declaring that Israel’s borders should be established on terms demanded by its mortal enemies, the British government has backed coerced surrender to aggressors bent on Israel’s extermination.”

They had further shown “contempt for international law” which entitled Jews to settle in land now in dispute. There was no such thing as Palestinian territory or a Palestinian people, she pointed out. It was an artificial creation invented solely to destroy Jewish entitlement to their own homeland.

And in supporting this resolution, Britain had made itself party “to the proposed racist ethnic cleansing of the Jews from their own ancient land.”

Phillips raged: “As the Arabs have repeatedly made clear, the sole purpose of a state of Palestine is to bring about the extermination of the Jewish homeland. The Arab-Israel impasse continues principally because Britain, Europe and America have consistently sanitized, rewarded and incentivized Arab aggression against Israel while punishing it for trying to defend its right to the land.

“Britain bears primary responsibility for this. In the thirties, it betrayed its Mandate4 obligations by reneging on its treaty obligation to settle the Jews in the land and instead rewarded genocidal Arab aggression by offering the Arabs part of the Jews’ own entitlement to the land. Voting for UNSC (United Nations Security Council) resolution 2334 merely continues that history of British infamy.”

Phillips concluded that, if Mrs. May continued to support such moves, “it will be a dreadful irony that someone who is so obviously well-disposed towards the Jewish people should go down in history as one of its most bitter enemies.”

Mike Evans, of the pro-Israel Jerusalem Prayer Team which boasts 14 million members, said: “The events foretold by ancient prophets are unfolding before our eyes – the nation of Israel, miraculously reborn (in 1948), is surrounded by enemies on every side. And the Jewish people are in need of our love, help and support as never before.”

1) A former columnist for the Daily Mail, Melanie Phillips now writes for The Times, Jerusalem Post and Jewish Chronicle. Although Jewish, she does not identify herself as religious, but has long been an indefatigable campaigner for Judeo-Christian values. She is also author of The World Turned Upside Down (Encounter Books), a brilliant commentary on the cancerous undermining of Western civilization.

2) For the full transcript, see http://melaniephillips.com/open-letter-theresa-may/.

3) The resolution condemned Israel’s settlement enterprise and declared all disputed territories as "occupied" including Jerusalem’s Old City and Temple Mount, historically tied to Israel for thousands of years.

4) Britain was given the Mandate to govern what was then known as Palestine following the collapse of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, with the goal of preparing the region for Jewish repatriation and statehood.

Photo captions: 1) Arthur James Balfour. 2) A Jewish settlement in the West Bank. 3) British Prime Minister Theresa May. 4) The Temple Mount. 5) Charles Gardner with his wife, Linda.

Note: There are still a few hours left for you to make your end-of-the-year donation (tax-deductible in the US), to ASSIST. Just go to www.assistnews.net and scroll down to DONATE TO ASSIST NEWS and made your gift there. If you prefer a check, please make it out to ASSIST and mail to PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609, and as long as the envelope is dated today, we can still issue you with a 2016 tax deduction form.

About the writer: Charles Gardner is a veteran Cape Town-born British journalist working on plans to launch a new UK national newspaper reporting and interpreting the news from a biblical perspective. With his South African forebears having had close links with the legendary devotional writer Andrew Murray, Charles is similarly determined to make an impact for Christ with his pen and has worked in the newspaper industry for more than 41 years. Part-Jewish, he is married to Linda, who takes the Christian message around many schools in the Yorkshire town of Doncaster. Charles has four children and nine grandchildren. Charles can be reached by phone on +44 (0) 1302 832987, or by e-mail at chazgardner@btinternet.com . He is the is author of Peace in Jerusalem, available from http://olivepresspublisher.com.

** You may republish this or any of our ANS stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net). Please tell your friends and colleagues that they can receive a complimentary subscription to our news service by going to the ANS website and signing up there.