Blatant Retaliation

I am no Green for all sorts of reasons, but nothing that they or Zack Polanski had ever said or done had put them or him beyond the pale of the Establishment before Sunday. Yet if you think that Israel is that popular a cause in Britain, then you need to get out more. Most people are indifferent and most of the rest are to varying degrees pro-Palestinian, just as most people in Britain have no view on the Irish Question and most of the rest are to varying degrees pro-Nationalist.

And no, “antisemitism” was not what did for Jeremy Corbyn. He took 40 per cent of the vote in 2017. It was Keir Starmer's unscripted announcement of a second Brexit referendum, for which Corbyn was too weak to sack him, that caused the 2019 General Election to be called at all by Boris Johnson, since he knew what the result would then be. As did Starmer, who duly became Leader on the back of it.

Several of Starmer’s closest associates have reported the Green Party to the Police, who are the only people even more glad than the Greens that the miners lost in 1985, and to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which is infamous for sacking its black and disabled staff first, for flatly refusing to investigate discrimination and worse against Muslims in the Conservative Party, and for managing to find nothing wrong in the then Government's conduct of the Windrush scandal. That is the hierarchy of racism, right there.

And in Starmer’s Camden, the Labour Chief Whip is Councillor Izzy Lenga, an IDF veteran and the Chief Scrutineer of the recent Labour Party conference. She appeared in the cult classic Panorama: Is Labour Antisemitic?, telling viewers that “every single day” Labour Party members were telling her that “Hitler was right”. That purported documentary was made by Rachel Jupp, who has just been made the new Director of News at the BBC, which like all broadcasters has been unable to find a single Palestinian to interview this week, but which has faithfully repeated the constantly changing but always absurd Israeli line about Flydubai, complete with a hijacker called Hamam al-Hammami, which means Bathroom al-Bathroom and whose plot was foiled by a plumber.

But anti-Zionism is a protected characteristic like being gender-critical, anything up to a third of British Jews are not Zionist, many of the right-wing and nearly all of the centrist Zionists in the Westminster Village believe that God gave the Land of Canaan to the Children of Israel even though God did not exist (on this as on abortion, they are no Christopher Hitchens), the majority of Zionists certainly in the world and probably in Britain are Christians who are at best unaware of the spitting at priests and the public urination on churches in East Jerusalem, and some of us are absolutely never going to stop pointing out the racism of the ideology that required those acts, and of which Peter Oborne writes:

Emily Thornberry, chair of parliament’s influential Foreign Affairs Committee, has called on Britain to refuse compliance with Israel’s closure of the British consulate in occupied East Jerusalem. Her intervention comes amidst mounting anxiety among Palestinians that Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband will submit to Israeli pressure and shut the consulate on Thursday. Middle East Eye understands that the foreign secretary’s decision is being watched closely by other consulates, including France and Spain, who fear they will be next to be forced out if the British quit. Thornberry told MEE on Monday that the closure of the consulate was a “blatant retaliation against Britain for standing up for international law. The closure order is in itself illegal. I hope that Israel will not go through with the closure of a consulate which has served Britons and Palestinians since 1838. Britain should not allow Israel to do this,” she said.

Prayers were said in the Anglican cathedral on Sunday morning that the consulate could be saved. Special mention was made of the welfare of Palestinian staff, many of whom are certain to lose their jobs if the consulate is closed. Richard Sewell, Dean of St George’s College, told MEE that he was “really disturbed by the prospect of the imminent closure of the British consulate. It is a further attack on the Palestinian community and will severely impact the UK's relationship with them.” The Dean warned that closure “will also impact UK nationals living in East Jerusalem as well as British pilgrims, and visitors to Jerusalem. It is really important that this move should be resisted.”

Domino effect

There is alarm that Britain will for the first time lack a diplomatic presence at the annual Remembrance Day service due to be held next month at the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery at Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. Historically, the British consul-general always officiates at the event, which is normally followed by a reception in the consulate. Many thousands of British and Commonwealth troops were killed in Palestine in World War One and World War Two. Middle East Eye understands that the future of the British Council office in East Jerusalem, which depends on British diplomatic representation, may also be jeopardised.

Britain has two diplomatic missions to Israel and Palestine: the embassy in Tel Aviv and the consulate to Palestinians, based in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, where Palestinian residents have faced years of threats of eviction and settlement expansion. Many Palestinians have told MEE of the importance of the work of the British consulate in providing witness of human rights abuses and reporting them back to London in a way that the British embassy in Tel Aviv cannot.

They have also expressed fear that the closure of the consulate will lead the way to the collapse of other diplomatic missions as part of a more generalised assault on Palestinian identity across Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. Thanks to the repressive environment enforced by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Jerusalem Palestinians who voice criticism of Israel said they fear arrest and imprisonment. That can include torture, as documented by human rights organisations including the Israeli group B’Tsalem. Middle East Eye has therefore chosen not to publish the names of Palestinians we have spoken to.

Disaster for Palestinians

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar announced the decision to close the consulate last month in retaliation against the British move to ban trade with Israeli settlements. Many Palestinians interviewed by MEE believe that it is significant that Saar responded with measures against the British consulate rather than the embassy in Tel Aviv. Focus on the consulate means that it is difficult for Britain to respond with reprisal measures against Israeli diplomats in London. More importantly it fits in with a wider Israeli project to make life difficult if not impossible for foreign organisations, including aid agencies, international bodies and consulates, to operate out of occupied East Jerusalem. 

Palestinians have noted that Israel’s closure of the British consulate is unlawful, since Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem is illegal under international law. Miliband recently recognised the landmark International Court of Justice judgment of July 2024, which ruled that the Israeli occupation of the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem, was illegal. Former British Attorney General Dominic Grieve KC wrote in a legal opinion last week that Israel has made “an unlawful assertion of sovereignty over occupied Palestinian territory. Successive British governments have affirmed that Israel’s rights in East Jerusalem are limited to those of an occupying power”.

Grieve wrote that “Israel is asserting a right it does not possess as an occupying power to impose sovereign control over East Jerusalem.” He further noted that British consul generals do not present commissions to Israel, meaning “there is no accreditation to Israel for Israel to withdraw”. Every Palestinian Middle East Eye spoke to insisted that the closure of the consulate would be seen as a victory for Israel and a disaster for Palestinians.

We are absolutely never going to stop pointing out the racism of the ideology of which Gideon Levy writes:

On Friday my cellphone pinged: a recorded message from Itamar Ben-Gvir about his victory in the Supreme Court. He promised "Bara, bara" ("Get out!" in Arabic slang) to Sami Abu Shehadeh – and he delivered. That was enough to drive anyone crazy: A racist, Kahanist cabinet minister who is a convicted supporter of terrorism and who boasts about the war crimes he orders in Israeli prisons, incites the commission of crimes against humanity and celebrates his victory.

He does this on the steps of the Supreme Court. Next to him is Ze'ev Wolf, a lawyer who, together with fellow members of the Kach movement's "Retaliation Unit," threw a hand grenade into a crowd in the Old City of Jerusalem's Muslim Quarter, killing an older Palestinian man and wounding several others in 1992. The terrorism supporter and the murderer defeated a man who has never hurt a fly, neither a Jewish fly nor a Palestinian one. The murderer became a lawyer, the terrorism supporter a government minister – and Abu Shehadeh was forced to withdraw from the Knesset election after the justices announced there was a majority in favor of his disqualification. A wicked man prospers, because he is Jewish; a righteous man suffers, because he is Palestinian. Could anything be more surreal than ex-cons defeating an innocent man in the High Court of Justice, and all because of an opinion piece?

The course was set when a panel of nine justices said that a majority would vote to disqualify Abu Shehadeh. This is the moral portrait of the Supreme Court in its current composition, the one whose independence the "change bloc" took to the streets to defend. This the court you defended? How embarrassing. Gone are the days when the erstwhile head of the Central Election Committee, Justice Mishael Cheshin, opposed the disqualification of Azmi Bishara over much graver claims than those made against Abu Shehadeh. "Your affiliation with Hezbollah annoys and outrages me," Cheshin said, adding: "but Israel's democracy is strong and can tolerate exceptions like Bishara."

Half a century later, Israel's democracy has weakened, its Supreme Court has weakened, Abu Shehadeh has been disqualified and Ben-Gvir is winning. The hearing on the disqualification of all the Arab parties lasted nine hours, with three hours devoted to Abu Shehadeh. Absolute madness. Ben-Gvir, in the role of Gideon Hausner, implies that Abu Shehadeh is Adolf Eichmann: "When I stand before you here, I am not standing alone. With me are the 1,163 people who were slaughtered in this massacre." Did the 1,163 victims authorize Ben-Gvir to speak for them? Eichmann? Really?

Thus began the humiliating hearing of Abu Shehadeh, reminiscent of a Stalinist purge committee. The exalted justices sought to probe his innermost thoughts. They would never do that to a Jew: Did you truly want to kill 1,000 babies? None of them dared to see the bigger picture, in which individuals who incite genocide, ethnic cleansing and mass starvation are fit to run for office while a candidate who is a proponent of peace and equality is disqualified.

Justice Daphne Barak-Erez wanted to know if the gentleman regretted his remarks, even though he has already expressed remorse, as if this would help him; Justice Alex Stein asked to see "a single essay in English" in which Abu Shehadeh called Hamas a terror organization. And if the redeeming essay were found, would Stein have voted against disqualification? Surely you jest. Is Hamas a terror organization? Stein interrogated him the way any Arab is interrogated: If he answers yes, they say he doesn't mean it. If he answers no, or tries to evade the question, he's a terrorist.

The Supreme Thought Court wanted to know what he meant, but Abu Shehadeh and his lawyer, Hassan Jabareen, never stood a chance. The court was compelled to offer up its pound of flesh to the zeitgeist, to Israeli fascism and to the government. After all, even the princess of Israeli justice, the attorney general, was for disqualification. The accused gave in, so we will never know if there was a righteous man in Sodom. But the spirit that blew through the court was clear: a Jewish and democratic disqualification, in the finest tradition of Zionist mendacity. From now on, Israeli Palestinians may think and express themselves only within the narrow confines set for them by the beacon of justice, whose light has long since been extinguished.

And we are absolutely never going to stop pointing out the racism of the ideology of which Yair Foldes, Noa Shpigel, Josh Breinerand Lior Dattel write:

An Israeli university lecturer is accused of planning mass terrorist attacks targeting Arab Israelis and Palestinians and seeking to recruit far-right politician and election candidate Moshe Feiglin to his plans, according to an indictment filed Monday with the Lod District Court. According to the indictment, the defendant, a mathematics lecturer at the Bar-Ilan University in central Israel, a man in his 60s, called his plan "Am Ya'aseh Transfer" in Hebrew, or "the nation will carry out a transfer." His stated goal, allegedly, was to cause Israeli Arabs to flee or be expelled to Jordan, Lebanon and Gaza.

The suspect is charged with preparing to carry out an act of terrorism under the Counter-Terrorism Law, extortion by threats and obstruction of justice. The State Prosecutor's Office asked the court to extend his detention until the conclusion of the proceedings against him. Among other efforts, the suspect sought to recruit Feiglin, a Knesset candidate running together with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. After the latter ignored his approaches, the suspect allegedly sent him threatening letters and attempted to extort him. According to the investigation, the suspect attended two public events held by Feiglin and attempted to arrange a meeting with him to present an outline of his plan, but the former lawmaker did not respond to any of his approaches.

In September, as the election approached, the suspect allegedly wrote an extortion letter addressed to Feiglin, criticizing and disparaging him for failing to cooperate with the plan he had devised. He allegedly threatened to publish the letter if Feiglin did not promptly agree to cooperate and help advance the plan, which he claimed would cause Feiglin political damage ahead of the election. About two days later, the indictment adds, the suspect allegedly went to Feiglin's home, handed over the extortion letter to a neighbor, and asked her to pass it on to the former MK, which she did.

The suspect later allegedly attended a Zehut party event at Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda Market, where he used another woman to deliver several copies of the extortion letter to the party's director-general, along with another letter containing a similar threat directed at Feiglin. The indictment added that apart from Feiglin, between April 2025 and September 2026 the suspect attempted to recruit former security officials, journalists and academics aligned with Israel's right. He presented the main points of his plan but didn't succeed in bringing anyone on board.

The indictment details how, amid the unrest during Operation Guardian of the Walls in Gaza in 2021 and following the October 7 massacre, the suspect, motivated by nationalist-ideological beliefs, decided to plan and carry out simultaneous terrorist attacks to kill hundreds of Arab Israelis, including Bedouins, as well as Palestinians living in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The indictment further alleges that over a period of more than three years, beginning in early February 2023 and continuing until his arrest last month, the suspect devised and prepared a systematic, detailed plan and carried out numerous concrete preparatory acts. These included conducting advance reconnaissance trips, preparing documents detailing the plan and its rationale, and attempting to recruit operatives to take part in the planned attacks.

Under the plan, 72 Jewish terrorists, at least half of whom would be licensed gun owners, including the lecturer himself, would be divided into 12 terror cells, with six operatives in each. They would be armed with various weapons, including pistols, rifles and axes, and would "launch surprise mass-casualty terrorist attacks in mixed Jewish-Arab cities and Arab communities across Israel." The plan also called for the cells to receive pre-coordinated assistance and backing from subversive elements recruited from within the Israel Defense Forces, including air, artillery and armored forces that would carry out attacks on Arab population centers.

According to the indictment, the suspect outlined instructions for members of the public to join in "carrying out mass killings, rapidly taking control of flashpoint areas, roads and the entrances and exits of Arab communities, mixed Jewish-Arab cities and hospitals." The indictment adds that the instructions called for participants to show no mercy, including toward Arab women and children, and not to stop in response to pleas, arguing that any hesitation would lead to an "unbearable situation of chaos and then a massacre of Jews."

According to the indictment, the suspect believed that the mass, simultaneous terrorist attacks, coupled with their amplification and real-time dissemination on social media, would lead Arab citizens of Israel to flee beyond the country's borders. During a court hearing following his arrest, the suspect said that his lawyer suggested that he would "act a little crazy," saying it "would help him" reduce his sentence. "[But] I'm completely competent and stand by my actions," he added. He also told the court not to be held in detention with Muslims, adding that "I am not a danger to anyone right now."

"My life has been completely turned upside down. I have so many things to do and financial matters to deal with. I don't see to whom I could pose any danger," he added. "All the prison guards are Muslim, and I'm afraid. I'm there alone. I'm a professor at Bar-Ilan University, and I worked until my arrest. I did nothing for myself. I buried my life for three years. I did all this before October 7. I don't think I should be punished."

In its request to keep the suspect in custody until the conclusion of the proceedings, the Central District Prosecutor's Office said his actions, which spanned several years, were rooted in an "extreme and murderous ideology" aimed ultimately at the mass killing of Arab Israelis, as well as Palestinians living in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The prosecution added that the nationalist and ideological motivations underlying his actions, coupled with the fact that they were carried out during a period of heightened security tensions, heightened the threat he posed.

Feiglin and the Zehut party said in a statement: "Immediately upon receiving the extortion and threatening letters from the defendant, Moshe Feiglin and the party leadership promptly contacted the police and filed a formal complaint. We thank law enforcement authorities for their swift and determined action and trust the security and judicial authorities to apply the full severity of the law against those who committed the offense. The Zehut party will continue to act responsibly in the public interest and without fear."

A statement by Bar-Ilan University said the suspect has been suspended until the conclusion of the proceedings against him, adding that it "condemns and is appalled" by the acts attributed to him. The university administration further called on police and prosecutors to "prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law if the allegations are proven." It added that the university "has and will continue to have zero tolerance for such conduct, which runs counter to the values we all share as Jews, Israelis and human beings, and certainly to the values of Bar-Ilan University."