Journalist hits out at ‘irresponsible madness’ of Al-Quds march.
A shocking case of double standards has come to light in London. A pro-Israel rally set for next Thursday, 22 June, has been postponed indefinitely for ‘security reasons’ while a pro-Palestinian march is scheduled to go ahead on Sunday 18 June.
A Night to Honour Israel was to have been held in Westminster, central London, and would have been Britain’s largest pro-Israel event – though the venue had been kept under wraps for obvious reasons, especially as similar meetings have been disrupted by violent demonstrators in recent times.
Speakers were to have included American pastor John Hagee, journalist Melanie Phillips and former British Army leader Col Richard Kemp. It had been advertised as an “opportunity to unite with Christians and Jews in showing your support for Israel during this significant Balfour Centenary year, an important time in the history of our two nations”.
Al-Quds Day March Going Ahead
The organisers, Christians United for Israel (CUFI), said it was postponed for the protection of the 1,000 people who had already bought tickets, with a statement explaining: “Islamist extremists have called for specific targeting of Christians and Jews during Ramadan, when our event was due to take place.”1
A shocking case of double standards has come to light in London.
And yet the Al-Quds Day march through the capital has been allowed to go ahead. Ostensibly in support of Palestinians, demonstrators at this event last year waved Hezbollah and Hamas flags. Al-Quds Day is always held on the date chosen by the late Ayatollah Khomeini calling for Israel to be destroyed. Naturally, London’s Jewish community is alarmed and the capital’s Muslim Mayor, Sadiq Khan, is being called to account.2
Daily Mail columnist Richard Littlejohn writes: “It’s irresponsible madness to hold such a polarising, provocative march in the wake of a bloody attack by Islamist terrorists. But the authorities can always be relied upon to prostrate themselves before militant Islam. Pity they’re not so obliging when it comes to others, especially supporters of the Jewish state.”3
Who Are the Targets?
There is, I perceive, some perverse logic to the reasoning behind this, in that while Christians and Jews are particularly vulnerable to attack from Muslim fundamentalists, supporters of the Palestinian cause are not at risk because Christians are called to ‘love their enemies’ (Matt 5:44). As Littlejohn says, “no-one is calling for the specific targeting of Muslims or Palestinians, are they? Only Jews and Christians.”
But whatever happened to the ‘diversity and equality’ we hear so much about these days? Should not both events have at least been treated in the same way? A huge amount of police resources will no doubt be garnered for the Al-Quds march. Couldn’t such resources also have been afforded to protect the freedom of those who support Israel?
When things go wrong, and we are attacked by murderous followers of the Qur’an, left-wing luvvies blame the Tories for cuts in the police budget.
Al-Quds Day is always held on the date chosen by the late Ayatollah Khomeini calling for Israel to be destroyed.
But the reality is that the economy is overstretched by the social disintegration of a society bedevilled and over-burdened by the break-up of family life. Our police do a great job, but extra officers only succeed in putting a plaster over a gaping wound. We need to tackle the cause of our ills, not just the symptoms.
Just the other day I watched a documentary partly focused on how the police were forced to deal with an anarchist rally in London. Huge resources were committed to this ugly event, allowing those who want to destroy our society to ‘have their say’. But Christians and Jews who love the nation of Israel are prevented from doing so.
References
1 See here.
2 See CUFI's response, here.
3 The Daily Mail, 9 June 2017.
