Hatefest
Bruce Kent is best known in Britain as the long-serving Vice-President of CND and the leading figure in the anti-nuclear movement during the 1980s when the British Labour Party adopted a policy of unilateral nuclear disarmament, fortunately later overturned. His advocacy of unilateral disarmament in the midst of the Cold War might lead us to question whether he really had the interests of his country or the West at heart.
Well, he is still going strong now as a patron of Sabeel in addition to his other interests. On Wednesday he was the lead speaker at the launch meeting of Halifax Friends of Palestine in West Yorkshire, England. Not content with promoting a stance that could have led to our defeat in the Cold War, he now promotes a stance that would surely assist in the West suffering a major loss in the War on Terrorism - specifically, the defeat and elimination of Israel. He calls a two-state solution only an ‘immediate political objective’ on the road to a single state. And though he may protest that he would prefer the single state to be democratic and secular, he is in effect calling for the elimination of Israel and the possibility of a Hamas- or Fatah-dominated regime in its place.
AFI’s organizer for the area attended the meeting and wrote this letter to his local paper, the Halifax Evening Courier, concerning its coverage:
I read your report on the launch meeting of Halifax Friends of Palestine (’Peace campaigner launches new group’, Courier, June 29th) with some surprise. I was there throughout and the main feature of the evening was not a calm discussion of ‘events in Palestine’ with a bit of culture thrown in but the sustained, hate-filled, vitriolic demonisation of Israel.
In what way Bruce Kent thought he was contributing to peace in the Middle East through his participation in Wednesday’s meeting it is hard to say for he had only fantasies to offer. He believes that Palestine and Israel will merge into a single, secular, multifaith state.
Has anyone told Hamas? They are, after all, the government of the Palestinian Authority, an offshoot of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, are explicitly anti-semitic and committed to the destruction of Israel and to the establishment of a state modelled on, for example, Iran and Sudan. No prizes for guessing the likely fate of Jews, Christians, non-believers, women and those Muslims not recognised as such in such a set-up.
Yasser Arafat was no better. Despotic and corrupt, he preferred shedding the blood of Palestinians and Israelis in fruitless uprisings to the task of negotiating peace.
Israel has faced an unrelenting military, terrorist and political campaign for its elimination from the moment of its birth despite the continuous and centuries-long Jewish presence in and links to the land that has become the Jewish State.
There was no attempt to outline a viable path to peace with justice and security for all in the Middle East: all that Wednesday’s meeting offered was loathing of Israel and an absurdly simplistic analysis of a complex dispute with deep historical roots.
This is sad. Israel has much to offer - economic dynamism, a vibrant civil society, abundant liberty, the rule of law. Given a secure future it could be a powerhouse of development for the Middle East. Palestinians deserve better than the appalling leadership they have had which has brought them to their present wretched condition.
We in Britain only make matters worse by indulging in sloganeering of the kind on display on Wednesday.
Bruce Kent also implied that the Old Testament was racist and that the Book of Joshua should be “put on the top shelf” - fine talk for the former Monsignor.
Talking of which, the meeting included the Vicar of Halifax and was advertized on the parish church’s website - just down from the notice about environmental work on the church grounds and just above one for strawberry teas at the vicarage. Other clergy were present and involved too. How much longer will the Church of England continue to give its seal of approval to such odious events?
