WhatFinger

Debate that has been hijacked by extremists

Israel’s ambassador says Britain has become a hotbed of radical anti-Israeli feeling


By Guest Column ——--June 14, 2008

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By Martin Beckford, The Telegraph Britain has become a hotbed of radical anti-Israeli views, according to the country's envoy to London.

Ron Prosor claims that while the UK was once admired for its liberal fairness and decency, in recent years extremists have "hijacked" its debate over Israel. He says his country has been turned into a "pantomime villain" by Britons who deny it has any right to exist, while terror attacks on Israeli citizens are ignored by both the media and public opinion. Mr Prosor, a senior diplomat who became Israel's ambassador to Britain last year, is particularly scornful of the academics who want to boycott Israeli universities over the country's treatment of Palestinians. He was a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in London between 1995 and 1998, and says while living here he came to appreciate the country's reputation for cherishing liberty and human rights, earned following its fight against the "dark forces" of the Nazis in World War Two. But he says he has been "dismayed" by what he has seen since returning to the country in November. Mr Prosor writes: "Fairness is all too frequently absent in a debate that has been hijacked by extremists. "Israel faces an intensified campaign of delegitimisation, demonisation and double standards. Britain has become a hotbed for radical anti-Israeli views and a haven for disingenuous calls for a 'One state solution', a euphemistic name for a movement advocating Israel's destruction. "Those who propagate this notion distort Israel's past while categorically denying Israel's right to exist as a liberal Jewish-Democratic state. No other country in the world is constantly forced to justify its own existence." Mr Prosor, a former Director-General of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs who has also served in the US and Germany, warns that the campaign by lecturers to boycott Israeli universities risks damaging the reputation of British academia. In 2007 members of the University and College Union (UCU) voted to sever links with Israeli universities in a move which provoked outrage from politicians and academics around the world, and prompted Jewish leaders to condemn it as a "frightening assault" on academic freedom. By Martin Beckford, More...

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