By Stuart Littlewood - London The Viva Palestina convoy's arrival in Gaza has worked wonders. It will be seen as a landmark achievement in the struggle for liberty. Thank you, George, for making us British feel clean again. Thank you, George, for giving us back a measure of self-respect. For too many years our Israel-adoring politicians and government ministers have shamed us with their failure to stand up straight for justice in the Holy Land. Even those who claim to speak with God have endorsed Israeli oppression and supported the Zionists’ lust for land and racial supremacy. They have ignored the human rights of the Palestinians that are enshrined in solemn declarations signed by all civilized nations. In particular they have refused to acknowledge the Palestinians' right of self-determination and rudely reject their democratic choice of government. Like spiteful children they impose sanctions and inflict collective punishment. They even stir up trouble by backing Hamas's defeated rivals in a bid to saddle the population with an illegitimate, unconstitutional ruling faction that can be counted on to comply with US-Israeli demands. If people like George Galloway were in charge of Britain I like to think that we would not have been joined at the hip with one US administration after another, and we wouldn't have been dragged into neocon wars on behalf of Israel. We would have taken the precaution of firewalling ourselves against infection from America's poxed financial institutions. We would be trading happily with the Muslim world instead of conniving with the EU to grant undeserved advantages to Zionist business interests. We would not have bestowed a knighthood on the Israeli regime’s bloodthirsty president; and long ago all those connected with the Israel lobby would have been expelled from Westminster as agents of a foreign power. The Royal Navy, instead of lurking in the Gulf, would now be patrolling the Gaza coast guaranteeing freedom of the seas to Gazan fishermen and merchant and passenger shipping wishing to do business in Palestine. The British army, instead of being bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, would be in Gaza constructing the seaport and reinstating the airport, so that people could visit their friends without running the humiliating gauntlet of Israel's neurotic security apparatus and businessmen could develop the seaside enclave's vital import/export trade. Why should Britain take a lead? Because for 90 years the British political establishment, starting with that Zionist convert Lord Balfour and the prime minister at the time, David Lloyd-George (who worked for the Zionists), has consistently betrayed and double-crossed the Palestinians. It was Britain, first as the occupying power then as the mandated government, who paved the way for a Zionist takeover. And it was Balfour who wrote: "In Palestine we do not propose even to go through the form of consulting the wishes of the present inhabitants of the country." Reparation is long overdue. So thank you, George Galloway, for showing Britain’s latest bunch of mealy-mouthed, hand-wringing leaders some backbone. Thank you for showing them the meaning of positive action. Thank you for showing them their duty. - Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. For further information please visit www.radiofreepalestine.co.uk. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com. |
