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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Zionists target Livingstone for anti-Sharon remark |
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| Anonymous |
| 10/15/02 at 03:33:37 |
| This week's Jewish Chronicle (4th Oct 2002) has a lead story in which leading pro-Israeli figures condemn the London Mayor Ken Livingstone for his stunning live interview on Sky last Saturday 28th September during the huge march in which he laid bare the double standards of the United States regarding its position on Iraq. Livingstone pointed out that Israel's PM Ariel Sharon was a mass murderer and in his view a far more unstable figure than Saddam Hussein. Yet Sharon faces no sanctions or military threats from the West! The JC turned out all the usual suspects to condemn Livingstone including his Jewish deputy Nicky Gavron, the Islamophobic MP for Ilford South Mike Gapes, and the Jewish head of the union Amicus, Roger Lyons. If you agree with the Mayor and are angered by the way the pro-Israel lobby tries to silence criticism of Israel with its cry of 'anti-semitism' then don't just sit there but speak out and email the Mayor with your support at: mayor@london.gov.uk [Jewish Chronicle story begins] 4-Oct-2002 Jewish Chronicle Livingstone: ?Sharon is a war criminal? Bernard Josephs And Helen Jacobus London Mayor Ken Livingstone has infuriated political friends and foes by accusing Ariel Sharon of being a war criminal and a mass murderer in a TV interview during Saturday?s London march against a war on Iraq. Speaking on Sky News, he said: ?Only one country in the Middle East has nuclear weapons ? Israel ? and we are making no attempt to remove these. Once again it is double standards with the US taking a broadly anti-Muslim, anti-Arab position.? Asked whether weapons inspectors should go back into Iraq, Mr Livingstone said: ?The reality is that he [Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein] is not the immediate nuclear threat. There is no danger about nuclear weapons [from Iraq]. The only nuclear weapons in the Middle East are in the hands of Sharon, a very unstable leader with a record of war crimes and mass murder.? The mayor?s remarks followed his recent move to ban a Trafalgar Square demonstration by the radical Muslim group Al-Muhajiroun, which has repeatedly described Mr Sharon as a war criminal. He was taken to task by the deputy mayor, Nicky Gavron, who is bidding to be his Labour challenger at the next election. She told the JC: ?It would have been better if Ken had said some constructive things about the Middle East.? Ilford Labour MP Mike Gapes accused Mr Livingstone of remarks ?not helpful to community relations in our city. It is wrong for the mayor of London to take such an unbalanced view of a conflict issue,? he said. Amicus union boss Roger Lyons described the comments as ?prejudiced and biased? and forecast that they would hurt him at the ballot box. A more conciliatory tone was adopted by Rabbi Pini Dunner of the Saatchi Synagogue, where the mayor is due to speak next month. ?We?re almost sold out,? Rabbi Dunner said. ?He is welcome, whatever his views, and those who attend are welcome to challenge him.? Police estimated the turnout at Saturday?s demonstration ? in defence of Iraq and ?freedom for the Palestinians? ? at more than 150,000. The organisers, the Stop the War Coalition and the Muslim Association of Britain, claimed a figure of 400,000. Alongside banners opposing military action against Iraq were anti-Israel and anti-Sharon placards. Marchers chanted slogans comparing Mr Sharon to Hitler. But a coalition spokesman denied the rally was anti-Jewish. ?We support the Palestinians but the main aim of the demonstration was to stop a war with Iraq. There are a large number of Jewish people taking part in our campaign.? Jewish Council for Racial Equality director Dr Edie Friedman, who marched in a personal capacity, voiced disappointment at leaflets and banners which blurred the distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. ?What we saw was anti-Semitism. Racism has no place on an anti-war demonstration,? she said. ?Personally, I would have wanted the march to focus solely on the war in Iraq. I met non-Jews who were equally unhappy.? Julia Bard, of the Jewish Socialists? Group, said her contingent had not encountered anti-Semitism. ?Because we were identified as Jews, we were responded to in a positive way.? |
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