Zionist at the heart of the
British government
Gordon Brown appoints Israel apologists to
oversee British media
By Redress Information & Analysis, 18 July 2007
Britain's new prime minister, Gordon Brown, has appointed Israel
supporters to key positions of responsibility over the British
media.
James Purnell, a notorious Israel apologist, has been given the
post of secretary of state for culture media and sport. As such, he
will have an oversight role over the British Broadcasting Corporation
and the rest of the British media.
From 2002 to 2004 James Purnell served as chairman of Labour
Friends of Israel.
He is also on record as describing critics of Israel as closet
anti-Semites. In a letter published in Prospect in December 2004, he
said:
... As the (non-Jewish) chairman of Labour
Friends of Israel for the last two years, I have been shocked
by the occasional demonisation of Israel that I've encountered.
Israel's government makes mistakes. So do the leaders of the
Palestinians. But some people are trying to turn Israel into a
global villain, the new pariah regime to take the place of
apartheid-era South Africa.
I find it hard to reconcile that image to the reality on the
ground-Israel is a democracy, suffering terrorist attacks,
surrounded by countries that don't recognise its existence, the
victim of well-funded terrorist organisations that preach
antisemitic hate. The Palestinians deserve a viable state, and
are suffering real poverty and hardship. There is suffering on
both sides-neither can solve this problem without the
other.
So when some people talk as if Israel is entirely to blame,
I ask why. The only answer I can find is that there is
something deep in our cultural memory that makes us disposed to
blame Jews. That tendency was put in its box by the Holocaust.
But today it re-emerges-occasionally, but persistently. I would
call it passive, or unexamined, antisemitism.
So not all criticism of Israel is antisemitic. But some is,
and we should be very wary of it.
A second Israel apologist, Jim Murphy, takes the position of
minister of state for Europe with responsibility for, among other
things, the BBC World Service and the British Council. Raised in
apartheid South Africa, Mr Murphy served as chairman of Labour
Friends of Israel during 2000-02 and has also been a member of the
Anglo-Israeli All Party Parliamentary Group.
In addition to Purnell and Murphy, another appointee to the Brown
government is also known for his pro-Israel bias. In October 1999,
Douglas Alexander, who has been appointed by Brown as secretary of
state for international development, paid a visit to Israel that was
sponsored by Labour Friends of Israel.
Gordon Brown has also chosen another Israel apologist to a key
advisory role. Simon McDonald, a former British ambassador to Israel
and a man described by Israeli officials as "a true friend to
Israel", becomes the prime minister's chief foreign policy
adviser.
He is joined by yet another Israel fanatic, Meg Munn, who becomes
parliamentary under-secretary of state with responsibility for
foreign affairs. A former chairwoman of Labour Friends of Israel, Meg
Munn has visited the racist, Jews-only state of Israel at the expense
of Labour Friends of Israel and the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
