tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3963192.post115496597080301900..comments2023-11-03T10:31:19.854+00:00Comments on Assistant Blog: the rehabilitation of Jack the ladJonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04267191412203443333noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3963192.post-1154982439076255632006-08-07T21:27:00.000+01:002006-08-07T21:27:00.000+01:00Hi Andrew,If you take her points one by one I'd be...Hi Andrew,<BR/><BR/>If you take her points one by one I'd be interested to know which you disagree with... She makes the following statements, and only 10, 11 and 13 look in any way contentious to me (with the quote you pull out the obvious one):<BR/><BR/>1. Neither Hizbullah nor the Iraqi Shia movements, nor Iran are underdogs worthy of our support.<BR/>2. Fundamentalist Islam and its attitude towards women, homosexuality and jews is not something which any liberal would support.<BR/>3. Hizbullah is neither genial nor moderate and aims to create a 'little Iran on the Mediterranean'.<BR/>4. Liberals should not shrug their shoulders and condone fanaticism.<BR/>5. Blair could not have predicted how badly the war in Iraq would have gone. But on the other hand, there's no point pretending that it has gone well.<BR/>6. Military endeavours in the Middle East have hardened anti-Western sentiment in the Islamic world - as evidenced by tonight's excellent Jon Snow documentary, 'What Muslims Want'.<BR/>7. Israel's democratic and liberal society is preferable in a human rights context in almost every way to the societies which surround it.<BR/>8. Yet their consistently aggressive actions against Palestinians and now the Lebanese people have - just like the US and the UK's actions in Iraq - helped to radicalise Muslims and in the process help create "a new suicide bomber, a new resistance fighter and a new potential terrorist".<BR/>9. An MP is better equipped to understand the feelings of ordinary Muslims if he or she has practical experience of them and has connections with the Muslim community.<BR/>10. Jack Straw's policy of keeping diplomatic channels open with Tehran and his determination to speak his mind stood him in good stead as a Foreign Secretary.<BR/>11. The current US administration pursues an 'Israel good, Palestinians bad' line.<BR/>12. A ceasefire is badly needed, and when it has happened we need to make sure that Lebanon is given the necessary support to rebuild.<BR/>13. Given Britain's low standing in International affairs, we might be better off allowing other countries to lead negotiations, in the interest of achieving a lasting peace as soon as possible.<BR/>14. Confident, better societies are essential to enable us to better explain our ideas and engage with those who disagree with them constructively.<BR/><BR/>I fully agree that Ashley's caricature of 'Israel Good...' is simplistic and emotional. And yet it is, isn't it, undeniably true that the current American administration has - and much to Tony Blair's frustration, I gather - failed to engage with the Israeli/Palestinian roadmap. It has not used it's influence with Israel to attempt to leverage peace and it has failed to condemn acts by Israel towards the occupants of the Gaza Strip or the West Bank which are pretty much universally acknowledged as aggressive and invasive.<BR/><BR/>Obviously the Israeli state is not in any sense 'evil', assuming for a minute that such a silly word could be applied, and nor are the Arab states surrounding Israel 'good'. But then Jackie Ashley isn't saying either of those things anyway, is she?Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04267191412203443333noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3963192.post-1154979584994233992006-08-07T20:39:00.000+01:002006-08-07T20:39:00.000+01:00I can't comment on the "story", and No. 10 can't e...I can't comment on the "story", and No. 10 can't either - because they "would" say whatever it was they were going to say - but Jackie's piece is an excellent advert for the blogosphere and against the MSM. It's absolute guff - sanctimonious, unsubstantiated, and begging to be mercilessly fisked. I mean, '"Israel good, Palestinians bad" tone' - haven't we got past believing to be Palestinian is to be a poor, tragic victim under the thumb of the evil, etc.?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05376621599111523024noreply@blogger.com