Charities and religious leaders condemn Blair

Significant that a Tory MP compared Israel's actions in Lebanon to the Nazi liquidation of the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw. I would have expected George Galloway to say something like that, not a Conservative MP.

26 July 2006 02:20

Charities and religious leaders condemn Blair

By Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor
Published: 26 July 2006

Charities, civil rights groups and Britain's leading Muslim organisation today unite in signing an open letter to Tony Blair condemning him for his failure back the United Nations' call for a ceasefire in the Middle East.

The letter underlines the widespread anger in Britain at the Prime Minister's support for US foreign policy. It claims the policy is to allow the Israeli bombing raids to continue in Lebanon until Hizbollah strongholds are destroyed.

Fourteen organisations including Amnesty; Christian Aid; the Muslim Council of Britain; Oxfam; Save the Children and the union Unison have signed the open letter to Mr Blair calling on the meeting of foreign ministers in Rome today to demand an immediate ceasefire.

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Sir Peter Tapsell, a veteran Tory MP, accused Mr Blair of "collusion" with President Bush in giving Israel the "go-ahead to wage unlimited war for 10 days".

He said it was "a war crime gravely reminiscent of the Nazi atrocity on the Jewish quarter of Warsaw".

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1197266.ece

in her hands with her disproportionate and brutal attack on Lebanon.

...who has the better PR! Many things Israel has done are flat out wrong, but she is FAR from the only "bad guy," but one sure would as Hell not know that reading DU the past two weeks! It has been a non-stop "crap on Israel" fest! Rational discussion has flown out the window in place of flamebait threads, anti-Semitic posts, and plain stupidity.

While the attack on Lebanon has been brutal, there were few other options. Perhaps it would have been better to start with a ground invasion, but it wouldn't have mattered. Any retaliation by Israel would have been deemed "disproportionate and brutal." That is the way of the Middle East in regards to Israel!

and black hats when in reality we have a region in which everyone wears hats of different shades of gray.

Israel is not a "bad guy," but she sure has blundered in Lebanon just as America has blundered in Iraq. I fear that this bloodbath in Lebanon and in Iraq will give rise to people that will make us wish we still had Hamas and Hezbollah to deal with.

Of course Israel has blundered with Lebanon, but she painted here and on the far-left as the newest Nazi incarnation! Personally, I am sick of it! I am sick of Israel being blamed for every fucking thing wrong in the Middle East, in the US and the world! The 'free pass' that some claim we give for Israel is anything but. However, they have no issue ripping apart Israel at every turn.

Here's a little challenge for you IG...post anything POSITIVE about Israel or an Israeli...see how that goes! Then come back and tell me that people are not being balanced on this issue!

The real problem is that most think the issues are 'cut and dried,' when in fact, they are extremely complicated and complex in such a way that a casual observer really doesn't know what is going on....yet, that doesn't stop the hateful rhetoric and idiotic responses.

The endless tit-for-tat and the litanies of grievances do not accomplish a darned thing. Israel had a legitimate cause for action when her military patrols were attacked by Hamas and Hezbollah, but for many people that are not anti-Semitic, Israel's response in bombing Beirut was seen as excessive. The displacement of 750,000 civilians is clearly disproportionate and it is a war crime in a region full of war of crimes.

We wouldn't even be debating this had we had someone in the White House investing time and effort to resolve the outstanding issues in the region. Previous Presidents have taken risks and spent a great deal of effort in at least keeping the lines of communication open to all the parties. Bush has been AWOL! Not only has Bush been AWOL, but he has outsourced his foreign policy!

The war in Iraq hasn't helped!

There are people that want to exploit the current situation in order to get the larger war they have been wanting for years. So when we hear Ehud Olmert speak about Iran, what we are actually hearing are not his words but our fears that we are being maneuvered into yet another war.

I don't think we are even talking to one another anymore, we are just shouting slogans!

But perhaps you need to read your signature, and ask yourself is Israel using force with or without wisdom?

today the IDF chief said that Israel has several more weeks of bombing. Can Israel and the US take such a risk of bombing Lebanon for several more weeks? Lebanon will be the new recruiting and training ground for a new generation of terrorists that will make Hamas and Hezbollah look like moderates.

FUBAR and Blowback at the same time!

The Israelis have already decimated their infrastructure.

but one could argue that Israel did join other aggressor nations that have purposely bombed cities to terrorize and kill civilians. Israel is doing to Lebanon what the US did to Iraq, and if we are to use a 20th century analogy, Israel is doing a Guernica on Beirut.

is criminal behavior and Blair was wrong to support it.