Sir Alan Duncan's 'apartheid' attack on Israel angers Jewish groups

[Jefferson23]

*This gentleman has always taken this point of view? A conservative speaking out on this level is
typical of him?

Jewish groups have reacted angrily to comments made by Sir Alan Duncan, the former Tory minister, who described settlement building in the Occupied West Bank as an “ever-deepening stain on the face of the globe”.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said that part of Sir Alan’s argument – that US thinking on the issue of settlements as being dominated by “a very powerful financial lobby” – was anti-semitic.

The Board’s vice-president, Jonathan Arkush, said: “Former International Development minister Alan Duncan’s speech served to display his well-known hostility to Israel. It made not a single mention of Palestinian terrorism and incitement to violence and hate. By ignoring the facts behind a complex dispute, he is breathtakingly one-sided."

He added: “If this was not bad enough, Sir Alan made the extraordinary demand that anyone who ‘endorses settlements’ (whatever that may mean) cannot be considered ‘fit to stand for election, remain a member of a mainstream political party, or sit in a Parliament.’ We invite Sir Alan to reconsider the implications of those words.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/sir-alan-duncans-apartheid-attack-on-israel-angers-jewish-groups-9797002.html

Middle East Peace: The Principles behind the Process


An address by the Rt Hon Sir Alan Duncan KCMG MP, Conservative Member of Parliament for Rutland and Melton.

The Speech

Unedited transcript, as delivered.
Middle East Peace: The Principles behind the Process

Introduction

May I start by expressing my gratitude to RUSI for providing me with a platform from which I can express my considered thoughts on an issue that has concerned – not to say, troubled – me for over thirty years.

No one who has travelled to Israel and Palestine, as I have done so often, can fail to become emotionally engaged in the rights and wrongs of the arguments between the two. The Israeli-Palestinian dispute is one of the most polarising and vexed issues in the world. What’s more, it creates fury and indignation way beyond the immediate vicinity of the region. Far more than just an Arab issue, it angers millions in the wider Muslim world.

I want today to examine one fundamental component of this issue, try to put its importance into context, and then explain the stand I believe we, as engaged citizens, should take about it.

https://www.rusi.org/events/past/ref:E5409871BBC25A#.VD0yts9wYdW

[oberliner]

1. This is the "libertarian" style of wingnut who occasionally gains favor among certain folks

A conservative in the Ron Paul style.

[Jefferson23]

2. ah, must be one of those enemy of my enemy' the Palestinians should avoid. n/t

[oberliner]

6. Palestinians should not avoid him

Liberals and progressives, on the other hand, should.

[Jefferson23]

9. They embrace him? Has he asked for favors in return for his speech? Have liberals embraced his

policy ideas?

[Scootaloo]

13. You're aware he's pretty good friends with John Kerry, right?

[oberliner]

14. "Mrs Thatcher reversed what would otherwise have been the terminal decline of Britain..."

... and turned us into a competitive and stronger nation with a renewed sense of confidence and purpose."

Much of the bitterness of those who, two decades after she left office, continue to lower the tone of the debate about her legacy stems from their own frustration at having been proven wrong. The sluggish, grey and stultifying Britain of the 1970s is, thankfully, a distant memory and those who bemoan the direction in which the country was taken under Mrs Thatcher would do well to avoid looking at the era of the winter of discontent, where bodies went unburied and rubbish uncollected, through rose-tinted glasses.

Paying Tribute to Margaret Thatcher
15th April 2013

That should give you a good sense of this person's political leanings.

[Scootaloo]

15. His being a Tory already clued that much in

But you're not answering my question, or addressing the point made below.

Okay. He's a libertarian. Does that make his address linked in the OP wrong? How so?

[Scootaloo]

3. I've found that even people who are generally wrong, can occasionally be right

And nothing in his speech here is "wingnutty."

[Jefferson23]

4. The Palestinians should rely on all those liberals in the US Congress,,,,,,,that's the ticket. n/t

[Scootaloo]

5. Just wait for the Kadima landslide...!

[Jefferson23]

7. Yep, that too.

[King_David]

8. Kadimah landslide?

You really don't have a good grip on this IP topic,do you?

[Scootaloo]

10. It's a joke, Dave.

Oberliner will get it

Or well, he should seeing as it's at his expense.

[shaayecanaan]

12. I enjoyed it

more than I should have.

[Mosby]

16. livni won the popular vote

But she got fucked by the coalition system.

[Jefferson23]

11. That was an intentional joke.

[LeftishBrit]

17. Just about everything about Alan Duncan angers me.

I agree with him about the settlements (though I suspect his motives - his background is with Big Oil); but he is not a good source, any more than Barry Rubin on the other side.

There are two good things in his career: he was the first Tory to openly 'come out' and to support gay rights; and he backed John Kerry against Bush in 2004. Apart from that, he is a right-libertarian Tory MP who thought all the things that Thatcher did to the economy and public services were just great. He has consistently and enthusiastically supported every welfare or public service cut pushed through by this government. Oh, and he was absolutely gung-ho for the Iraq war, so occupation and illegal war and expansion were fine when our own country did it against our own people's will. In other words, he's a hypocrite, like all Tory MPs.

[Jefferson23]

18. Thanks for weighing in, I am not familiar with him. He is a good voice for the Palestinians, and he

really does not need to be anything else in order to do that...I think you would agree.

[oberliner]

19. It is quite clear that you are not familiar with him. He is not a good voice for the Palestinians

He is a far right-wing conservative in the libertarian mold and is very much part of the Big Oil lobby.

If that is the kind of "good voice" for the Palestinians you are looking for, why not head over to the websites of other right-wingers who use the Palestinian cause to advance their extremist agenda?

[Mosby]

20. +1

[Jefferson23]

21. Then tell me in what manner he is not a positive voice for the Palestinians.

His objective is centered in malice for Israel? If you believe that, spell it out.