Tuesday 27 January 2009

Holocaust Memorial Day

We will be holding a minute's silence this evening at 8pm to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

17 comments:

  1. This is pretty ironic considering your highly one-sided presentation of events and the causes of the Gaza conflict, which essentially acts as an endorsement of Hamas, who (if you didn't realise) are virulent Holocaust deniers, to the extent that they claim it was planned by Jews.

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  2. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/may/12/hamascondemnstheholocaust

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  3. http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=1946

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  4. they don't care. nothing hamas can say or do will make these people withdraw their support.
    it's not about hamas.

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  5. actually, on second thought, there is something hamas could do that would anger these guys so much that they would no longer support it. no, it's not deliberately target civilians.
    if hamas were to drop its demand for the destruction of israel, our "peace activists" would call them collaborators (see: fatah).

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  6. Daniel - the 'highly one-sided presentation of events' are a response to this recent highly one-sided conflict.
    This isn't an endorsement of Hamas. Perhaps you should read the FAQ, it can be found under 'Learn More' on the right hand links bar.

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  7. Laurence - I have read the FAQ, which claim that this is merely about the 'humanitarian' situation. If this were truly the case, you would be equally demanding aid and support for the victims of civilian-targetted rocket attacks in Sderot and other areas of southern Israel. Rather, this is clearly a political protest, made perfectly clear by the non-humanitarian, political signs that are displayed by the entrance to the Law Faculty. Whether or not you intend it, this is a tacit endorsement of Hamas.

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  8. i read the faq. they debated whether to condemn hamas and then decided not to.
    surprise!

    peace out.

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  9. Rigor - Couldn't be the massive amounts of corruption that they engage in that puts people off Fateh, could it? The fact that their governing style seems to consist of deliberating over how many limousines will be in their fleet bought by the public money?

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  10. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=r51PONLdS5s&NR=1

    Why don't you care about these children too?

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  11. You claim to be protesting about the 'humanitarian situation'. If you are, then you are holding the wrong party accountable!
    Perhaps you should have a look at what Louis Mitchell EU Chief of Humanitarian Aid has to say when visiting Gaza for the first time yesterday. "Hamas bears the overwhelming responsibility for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza". Or let me guess, he is a Zionist now?

    Why don't you, before rushing blind into a one sided attack on Israel, wait for some objective facts to come through? I am not saying that Israel definitely hasn't committed every crime you say they have (though I believe most of them will be proved fabrications), rather my problem is that you are playing judge, jury and sentencer. You havn't allowed a fair trial or an objective assessment of the situation of what is actually happening. When you step back and begin to look at objective evidence and investigations, you might find your demands looking a little silly. If this is a humanitarian protest, your criticism of Israel is way off.

    In reality this protest has nothing to do with Gaza, but is rather aimed at the vilification of Israel as a country, an attempt to undermine its right to exist as a sovereign state, and an appologist movement for Hamas.

    And please spare me the have you read our manifesto/faqs. Actions are stronger than words, and as a protest about the humanitarian situation, your decision not to condemn the party who bears overall responsibilty for the humanitarian crisis speaks volumes for your movement.

    Nice to see that you are memorialising the Holocaust, at least you differ from Hamas in that you seem to agree that it happened. I wonder though how long it will be until the line, "but the Palestinians aren't responsible" for the Holocaust comes out. Some were pragmatically involved, like the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (eventually tried and found guilty at Nuremberg), and the riots between jews and arabs, and palestinian attempts to restrict jewish immigration in the 1930s ultimately forced the British to limit the number of Jews that were allowed back to Israel. As a result, some jews were forced to return to Europe where they were eventually caught up in the Holocaust. Of course, the Palestinians aren't responsible for the Holocaust, but they were not wholly innocent either!

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  12. Well the EU Commissaire actually said: "Le Hamas porte une responsabilite importante pour ce qui s'est passe". "Importante", just like its English cognate, "important", does not mean "overwhelming". The reference is: http://ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/michel/Press/docs/articles/2009/CAB17_0126174529_001.pdf#zoom=100 at p.2

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  13. this strikes me as a transparent attempt to avoid charges of anti-semitism and in bad faith.

    the guardian article in which the hamas guy claims not to be a holocaust denier is pretty weak sauce.

    apparently they "condemn it as we condemn every abuse of humanity and all forms of discrimination on the basis of religion, race, gender or nationality."

    which is to say, very little. i'm all against 'discrimination' too -- probably a little more, i reckon, than your average hamas militant -- but does this construction really cover the planned extermination of millions of people?

    the reason people infer anti-semitism is the obsessive focus on this single conflict. why not scholarships for, say, iraqis? why not a boycott of US academics for their occupation of foreign lands? or, indeed, of UK academics.

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  14. If only there was true silence here, to ponder over and regret the horrible tragedy that humans allowed, instead of making so much noise....

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  15. In every war there are the good guys and the bad guys - it just depends where you're standing.

    However, at this time before we play judge, jury and sentencer the reality is that the people in Gaza are suffering. There are thousands injured, without clean water, nourishing food or essential medicine. The blockades Israel has imposed on Gaza for the past twelve months, which were supposed to ease in the six months ceasefire but has become tighter, is not helping.

    This is not about Hamas or Israel and who is to blame - this is about the civilians, the ordinary people who need our help.

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  16. ameeratoo.

    I completely agree with your last two lines. This is about helping people. However, the banners inside and outside the law fac clearly see this as an opportuninity to heap a load of blame on Israel, vilify and delegitamise her in the eyes of the public. That is the major problem I have with this protest.

    If it was just about aid, you wouldn't be demanding a condemnation of Israel, and not mentioning Hamas. For some then, this is clearly a blame game and whilst Israel is at fault, to play fare you have to acknowledge both sides of the coin.

    Tony-W. If Hamas play an 'important' role in the humanitarian crisis, then surely as a movement aimed at easing and speaking out against the humanitarian crisis, the occupation should be just as vocal in
    their condemnation of Hamas as it is with its one sided vitriol of hate against Israel.

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