Open Letter to The Guardian Newspaper
RE: Letter published 7th September and signed by various anti-Israel activists (original article)
It’s very sad that the anti-Israel lobby in the UK are doing all they can to demonise Israel and their elected leader Benjamin Netanyahu but their claims and hate filled rhetoric are without substance. How low will they stoop in their malicious misrepresentation of Israel as the cause, and Netanyahu as the one to blame, for of all the world’s problems? According to their distorted worldview Israel is now responsible for the refugee crisis. I have no doubt that a number of innocent Palestinians have escaped the oppressive Hamas-led regime in Gaza. They may well have joined the vast groundswell of refugees from war-torn Syria. However to link the current Refugee Crisis with Netanyahu’s trip to the UK and the Gaza conflict is a deliberate attempt by these anti-Israel activists to imply guilt independent of the facts.
The Syrian conflict has seen nearly 200,000 people killed and over 10 million displaced. Nearly 4 million have sought refuge in other countries and now we are seeing a massive influx into Europe. The scale of this crisis is immense and there are no easy answers to the problem. Indeed we need to pray for David Cameron and our government in how they address this heart rending issue. It’s very underhand that a human catastrophe of this magnitude should be used by the anti-Israel lobby as a battering ram against Netanyahu.
Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and the UK should be fully supporting Israel as our only hope for security and stability in the region. Demands for sanctions and an arms embargo against Israel should be denounced.
Israel supports freedom of religion whereas Christians in other parts the Middle East are among the most persecuted people on Earth. In Israel, Jews, Christians and Muslims co-exist and have equal rights. We should applaud Israel for this religious freedom.
We welcome PM Netanyahu to the UK and are pleased that PM David Cameron and our Government recognise who our true friends are.
Des Starritt
Executive Director
Christians United for Israel UK
