FEB 5 2015 (Wed)
I will be watching BBC's 'Question Time' (QT) tomorrow night (Thurs Feb 5) - from Golders Green, with George Galloway as a panellist.
The BBC's choice of Mr Galloway, especially at this North London location, has caused quite a stir in various quarters - and some are calling for Galloway's non-appearance and/or 'action' against the BBC.
Such controversy reminds me of the forerunner to BBC's Question Time & Any Questions - The Brains Trust (BT) which began in wartime Britain January 1 1941.
C.E.M. Joad was the "star performer", and almost overnight became famous with his catchphrase "It all depends what you mean by...".
During those wartime and post-war years, there were various attempts in various quarters to oust this celebrity philosopher, former pacifist and unashamed socialist for expressing 'unacceptable' views with laser-like clarity. Certain quarters finally managed it in 1948 - CEMJ was 'sacked' by the BBC for a particular 'kink' of train ticket wrong-doing, and he is now almost forgotten - except by the 'more senior' who remember sitting with their parents as a wartime child, huddled round a radio (there was no TV), listening to the Brains Trust and 'Professor' Joad.
The BT 'morphed' into QT & AQ. Different names. Same problems.
Joad and Galloway as panellists together? Now that would be something special! Sadly not possible, except in our imaginations. Roll on tomorrow night!
FEB 6 2015 (Thurs)
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http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/02/05/george-galloway-repeatedly-attacked-during-fractious-question-time_n_6626920.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cukt1%7Cdl1%7Csec3_lnk4%26pLid%3D327491George Galloway Heckled During Fractious Question Time Debate On Rising Anti-Semitic Tide
The Huffington Post UK | By Paul Vale
Posted: 06/02/2015
Comments
145
In the most fractious Question Time of recent years, George Galloway clashed with fellow panelist Jonathan Freedland and a large, vocal bank of audience members on Thursday following a question on the rising tide of anti-Semitism in the UK.
Earlier that day the Community Security Trust (CST) - a charity that monitors anti-Semitism and provides security for the Jewish community in Britain – published figures highlighting a doubling of anti-Semitic incidents across the country in 2014, an increase for which last year’s conflict in Gaza was blamed.
The final questioner, asking about the rise, implied the Respect MP, who last year declared Bradford an "Israel-free zone", had contributed to an anti-Semitic fervor.
Guardian columnist Freedland, who identified himself as a member of the Jewish community, tied the “upsurge" to the "resumption of violence in Gaza”, warning that the rhetoric around Israel became so “inflamed” that people struggled to make the distinction between Israel and Jews.
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He then attacked Galloway for his own language around Israel, suggesting the Respect MP had drawn links between the Middle Eastern state and the revolution in Ukraine. “People like George Galloway need to exercise great responsibility in this area because it’s incendiary… and can lead to hate,” said Freedland.
In the run up to this week's show, held in Finchley, North London – an area with a large Jewish population – the BBC had been decried for inviting Galloway, a staunch critic of Israel. During the segment, several members of the audience struggled to contain their antipathy, shouting repeatedly at Galloway despite David Dimbleby’s remonstrations.
“You’re not welcome here,” shouted one audience member. Galloway, unperturbed, shot back, “You will not stop me speaking however much you shout.”
Galloway was interviewed by police under caution last year after describing Bradford, where he is an MP, as an "Israel-free zone", during the conflict in Gaza last year
He continued: "I’m very sorry that Jonathan Freedland in what he has just said has given credence to the absolutely false allegation implicit in the question [that Galloway had added to rise in anti-Semitism]. I know about political violence; I was assaulted three times in four months in London.”
An audience member shouted back, “I wonder why?”
“See,” said George addressing the mob, “you are in favour of some political violence but against other political violence. You’re in favour of freedom of speech for some people, but not for others.”
“You support Hezbollah,” another audience member replied.
Dimbleby tried to intervene. “Am I on trial here?" said George. "I’m being bayed at by the audience, I’ve been directly accused by another panelist…”
Galloway said the conflation of Jewishness and Israel was “dangerous” and a “false synonym”, adding: “Zionism and Israel are different things from Judaism and Jewishness. And anyone that conflates these things, whether they’re an anti-Semite or a so-called leader of the Jewish community, is making a grave mistake."
He then chastised Freedland for saying the current rise in anti-Semitism in the UK was the result of a “resumption of violence" in Gaza. "What he meant to say was the mass murder of 2136 Palestinians locked up in a prison camp called Gaza, five hundred of those children," he sniffed.
In a bizarre vignette, Galloway said had he been alive in the 1930s he would have been first at the recruiting office to fight fascism, which was a "Christian, European phenomenon”. When journalist Cristina Odone leaned over to interject, Galloway snapped, “Take your hands off me”.
The former Labour MP concluded that the “shadow cast by the fear of anti-Semitism in Britain could be said many fold about Islamophobia and the fear of Muslims in Britain”.
Earlier Galloway censured Dimbleby and the BBC for the lack of balance in the audience. “You be the lions, I’ll be Daniel,” he said to the crowd. Unfortunately for George, the hungry lions did attack...
SEE ALSO:
Jews In Britain Feel Threatened By 1930s 'Anti-Semitism'
Holocaust Memorial Day - Uneasy Comparisons With Anti-Semitism
Why I Oppose Anti-Semitism
There Is No 'Wave' of Anti-Semitism
FEB 6 2015
African Union calls for Boycotting Zionist Regime of Israel
JNN
05 Feb 2015 Djibouti – Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Youssef on Tuesday called on the African Union to opt for “firm and clear” decisions in favor of the Palestinian cause.
According to PIC, Youssef’s call came during an in-camera session held Tuesday by the African Union’s council of ministers to discuss a series of pro-Palestine draft resolutions, among many other issues.
The appeals of Djibouti’s foreign minister were “among the strongest stances taken in favor of the Palestinian cause,” the Anadolu News Agency quoted sources at the session as saying.
The same sources reported a quasi-total agreement on the set of recommendations put forth in support of the Palestinian people and submitted to the two-day African Summit, set to kick off Friday in Addis Ababa.
The council of ministers’ proposals included the boycott of Israeli products, the condemnation of the Zionist regime’s assaults on Palestinians, and the establishment of a Palestinian sovereign state. The council further agreed to support Palestinian statehood bid at the UN Security Council.
